Nothing But Our Love
by sewardsfolly
Summary: SEQUEL to No Boundaries and Attachment! Final installment in my trilogy! 15 years after Attachment, Skywalkers and Kenobis. Skywalker kids learning about past, Anakin dealing with them growing up. Hectic family life, very fun.
1. Prologue

**Nothing but our Love**

**Disclaimer: **Star Wars: not my idea. Anakin, Padme, Obi Wan, and all characters from the real star wars are not mine, although the other skywalker kids are...this is just for fun! read on...

Prologue/Synopsis/Teaser:

Hi! I'm back again, you can't get rid of this series… actually you can after this story because I plan on doing just these three installments (holding true to the trilogy aspect of Star Wars). Get ready for a looong synopsis to introduce all the children (yes there are many) and the events (not too many to note) of the fifteen years.

This story takes place at the time of ANH (well, a little before). Luke and Leia are about 19 (I mean I guess that's how old they're supposed to be in ANH, maybe like 20 in that though…) so Taryn's 15, and Padme and Anakin have (get ready) three more kids, bringing the total to six (of course they do, could they have anything other than a huge, out of control family?) They had a boy, Bail, who's now 12, (named in honor their friend Bail Organa, who I stupidly killed off in No Boundaries cuz I felt like someone important had to die…) another boy, Zeke, who's now 10, and the 'baby' is a girl, Elsé (I don't bother with the accent on Padme's name, but if I don't use it for Elsé it looks like the word "else" so…), who is now 6, and of course Anakin dotes on her tremendously because she's his last little girl. Anakin is now…what, 41? About, so Padme's about 46?

Obi Wan and Sabe didn't have kids, but are still in love and happy- plus they have enough to deal with in the Skywalkers… (ok, I really debated this with myself but I kind of like the idea of the crazy Skywalker family and the galaxy loving how insane they all are, and Obi Wan and Sabe being really quiet and peaceful and just loving to observe Padme and Anakin try to deal with their children- as well as helping them out- and having Kenobi children just kind of muddled with the way I wanted the characters to be, and kind of took away from the Skywalker family being so uncontrollable and fun, so I decided against it. Hopefully you'll like it this way.) Oh, and Obi Wan still looks more like young Obi Wan… I mean really the 20 years in between III and IV really wouldn't age him _that_ much- as much as they definitely seemed to be the same character and all it just seems that would be more like 40 years later and not 20, so he's sort of in between the two…

Again, it's been very peaceful, no other Sith have emerged, Padme served that second term as Chancellor then retired (she couldn't have served another term as Chancellor anyway, and didn't want to go back to the Senate considering she was pregnant with her fourth child and definitely needed and wanted to be home with the family). However she still helps out whenever she's needed (which is a lot because of how respected and accomplished she is) and is still fairly active unofficially in political circles, helping out with certain issues…She and Anakin bought a much bigger house on Coruscant and also have a house in the Lake Country of Naboo (which Padme's family is very happy about), and Padme loves being with her kids although she really can't control them, but no one can. Obi Wan and Sabe live nearby and the couples are of course best friends.

Anakin is still, of course, a Jedi Master and on the Council, as is Obi Wan, and Yoda, and Mace, and anyone else I guess, seeing as the Jedi didn't all get killed. Luke and Leia passed the trials when they were 18; Luke continued to be a Jedi, and already is fulfilling the Skywalker profile of a great Jedi, while Leia, passing the trials as she had promised herself and her father she would, then left the order to pursue politics like her mother (who was very happy and loves to point out to Anakin that she can teach the children too). However, Leia's kind of a secret weapon because as the hype about Luke built up, the hype about Leia died down and people tend to forget she was such an accomplished Jedi, so she enjoys (much to the scolding of her father and former master) toying with people who think she's a weak little girl. So Obi Wan then took Taryn as his Padawan- she is the exact opposite of her twin older siblings, (though all of the Skywalkers are, of course, beautiful children) she takes way more after her father, really tall and has Anakin's hair and eyes, while Leia and Luke (as we know) are smaller and Leia looks a lot like her mother. Taryn might end up the best Jedi of all of them, because she's really athletic and not afraid of anything (not that any of them are…) Bail is Anakin's Padawan, and Zeke and Else are still Younglings. Bail is already almost as tall as Luke, at twelve, and is probably going to be even taller than his father, and looks just like Anakin. Zeke has Padme's features, and is sort of a medium build like Luke. Obi Wan is hoping Taryn can pass the trials soon and he can take Zeke as his Padawan- he has grown really attached to Skywalker Padawans, as you can tell. And of Course, Anakin wants Else as his next Padawan, she looks just like Padme and he knows she'd be his last Padawan that is his own child.

Leia spends much of her time on Alderaan where she has been able to break into politics, and Luke, as any Jedi knight, is on assignments all over the place. Because of this, they spend their time on Coruscant at home with their family (or occasionally friends when they want to go out for the night, etc.). But, even at home they are out most of the time, and the house is big enough that even Master Skywalker doesn't notice how late they return home if they block their force presences well enough. But Luke and Leia get along really well (despite constant teasing) and have mostly mutual friends and hang out a lot. Taryn of course looks up to her older sister (Which everyone teases Leia about because Taryn's about half a foot taller and looks about 18 herself) and always wants to hang out with Luke and Leia when she can (when she's allowed). Bail and Zeke are typical 12 and 10 year old boys, crazy, fun, full of life, full of pranks (many of which Anakin teaches them and then regrets five minutes later) and taunt their sisters nonstop. Else is the quietest and sweetest and wants to be just like her older sisters and her mom, and even her brothers only tease her lovingly, and her daddy is her favorite and she is his (not as if they don't all love the rest of the family, they just have a special bond). Anyway, the family is chaos and amazingly fun and with all the friends they always have over ,the house is usually full to the brim of kids of all ages, so much so that Anakin loses track of who belongs to him during the day.

The Skywalkers are a name to be known in the galaxy, as the family has successfully subdued any kind of violence and illegal activity that has plagued the otherwise peaceful years, and all are incredibly gifted Jedi and/or politicians. Obi Wan and Anakin are revered heroes of the clone wars and the Sith battles and are already all over the history archives of the Jedi and of all schools in the galaxy, but are still just as humble (well, at least Obi Wan) as ever, and the same loveable personalities. However, some other Padawans are kind of jealous of the Skywalkers, and this causes problems- most love them, because the whole family is just really nice, but of course there's going to be problems if you're famous before you're even born and other Padawans feel like they have to work for what's handed to the Skywalkers (even though every Skywalker has proved to live up to his or her reputation ten times over). Also, of course, Leia and Luke and Taryn are dealing with romance (or more, they are having fun with it and Anakin is trying to deal). Of course Anakin is the parent who spoils everyone and can't deal with them, and Padme is way more calm and refined, yet they work together well and everyone loves each other very much (despite constant teasing among the siblings). And, of course Anakin also refuses to accept that his daughters are growing up (though Luke he eggs on about it, I mean it's different with a boy), and Padme is also way more calm about the dating scene and such, ooh this will be fun…All right, I think that's everything, let me know if you're confused about anything. Wow, that was an extraordinarily long synopsis, but anyway, enjoy ch. 1!

P.S. yeah the title's from one of the cheesier lines of the movie, but it seemed to fit. 'Attachment' was a way better title, I'll admit. 'No Boundaries' was better too, but random. Plus, they sound good all in a row in my head, so I used it.


	2. Chapter 1

**Ch. 1**

Before Anakin had even realized that his children had sat down to dinner, their plates were spinning around empty, their chairs knocked backwards and their Force signatures scattered haphazardly across their now huge seeming house. When they had bought it, Anakin had been extremely excited to have more space in which to properly raise his children and pamper his wife, but now he felt as if he never saw anyone anymore. What had he been thinking, especially back when there were only three children, buying such a big house? At least in the apartment, they had been forced to cross paths every once in a while. Now he was lucky to catch a glimpse of Leia's long brown hair whipping out the door as she and Luke scampered off to do whatever it was they were always doing. One thing was for sure, they were never at home, and though he knew they were adults now and had to grow up, and he was happy they had lives of their own, he missed them very much.

But it wasn't just them; it was all of the children, even his little Elsé. Sure he saw Elsé and Zeke enough, and Bail, as his Padawan, had to spend a lot of time with dad whether he wanted to or not, but Anakin missed the days when he was the first one they wanted to hang out with. Not that he wasn't proud that his children had great lives- the Skywalker pride couldn't be diminished just for a simple feeling of nostalgia. He loved that they all had tons of friends and were extremely talented, both in the Force and in their studies as well as in Skywalker mischief making. In fact, he couldn't help but relish in the fact that his hoard of children collectively got about a hundred of what the Skywalkers liked to call 'compliments' from Jedi Masters about their pranks and mischief around the temple. Yes, mused Anakin, much to the chagrin of the council every one of his children was just as much a miscreant as Anakin himself. And now, by dad's instruction (and _not_ Master Skywalker's) every time a Jedi Master said:

"I've never seen such a disastrous mess," Or "This is the worst behavior I've faced since I spent that night with the herd of Bantha on Tatooine,"

A Skywalker would simply reply "Thank you, Master," and continue innocently on to the library to 'study.' Of course, Anakin liked to think, none lived up to his own pranks, and he constantly challenged his boys to finally get Obi Wan to say, "you're worse than your father." It hadn't happened yet, but Zeke _had_ managed (completely by accident, if you were to ask Zeke himself) to set Obi Wan's beard on fire, a feat that impressed even Anakin. And of course, as Obi Wan's third Skywalker Padawan, Taryn strived to live up to the reputation of her father and brother and had managed to be very disobedient herself.

However, the children knew how to be polite when necessary, and Anakin did take pride in the fact that they all seemed to respect others and have a true sense of moral obligation and duty to the Jedi. For these reasons, he could enjoy their misbehavior, because he knew that he needn't ever truly worry about their futures or their reputations. They were kind and good-hearted, and they only pranked and teased those who they knew could handle it. Put bluntly, they were very much like their father, but with a more intelligent, refined, analytical side that he knew came from Padme and that he couldn't have been more pleased about.

However, in this moment, just as he reveled in his love for all of them, not a one was to be found. Dinner normally went like this, but usually Padme was still there and they enjoyed their meal together after the children had excused themselves. However, tonight, Anakin couldn't help but notice that he was completely alone, and he realized that during dinner he must have missed an important piece of information that would alert him of his family's current activities.

Frowning, he pulled himself out of his thoughts and returned to the present, looking around him and reaching out with the Force to locate his family.

"What are you thinking about?" Said the calm and contemplative voice of Padme, who, as if on cue, walked into the dining room and kissed his temple.

"Nothing," Anakin lied, looking up at her sweetly.

"Now I know that's not true," she teased, smiling radiantly at him.

"I'm so old," Anakin pouted, and Padme laughed.

"Are you saying you think I'm old?" Padme joked, pretending to be insulted. "I'm five years older than you."

"No, not at all," Anakin smiled up at her. "You are young and beautiful. But I meant more-"

"That the kids are growing up too fast?" Padme asked knowingly. Anakin stared at her, amazed.

"You know- are you sure you're not Force sensitive?" He joked.

"I'm sure," Padme smiled. "But I don't need the Force to know what's on your mind…they still worship you Anakin, you know that."

"I just miss them."

"I know, I know," Padme nodded in agreement. "So do I."

"Even Elsé," Anakin pouted, thinking about his little girl. "Even Elsé would rather play with her friends now."

"Maybe," Padme agreed hesitantly. "But I can promise you Anakin, if she could choose only one person in the universe to spend time with, it would be you."

Anakin smiled warmly up at Padme- she always knew how to make him feel better. "I don't know," he contested. "I think her mother would be close competition."

Padme laughed, and Anakin pulled her down onto his lap. "Maybe."

"At least I still have you," he said sweetly, kissing her on the lips.

"Please," said a third voice, as Leia and Elsé burst into the room. Elsé was staring at them with her hands on her hips, as Leia rolled her eyes.

"Look, I'll be out of your hair in a couple of minutes ok, then you can do what you want," Leia teased. "But for now, at least turn your heads so you can see us."

Anakin and Padme stared at each other a minute longer, amused, and turned to their daughters. "Yes?" Padme inquired calmly, as Anakin nuzzled his chin into her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Going out," Leia informed them, dressed up to go to a party.

"Yes, we're going out," Elsé nodded, standing importantly next to her older sister.

"Ellie, you're not coming," Leia replied sweetly, putting her hand on the little girl's shoulder.

"Why do I never get to go," Elsé whined, pulling on her sister's hands.

"When you're older, you can come with me," Leia promised her, giving Elsé a hug.

"Yeah right, I'm the youngest forever, and then even when I'm old enough you'll be doing even older things, and I _still_ won't get to go!" Elsé complained.

"Ellie I promise when you're older I'll take you out with me," Leia smiled at her, stroking the little girl's hair.

"Els, I'm sorry, but Leia's right, you can't go with her," Padme said kindly to her baby, who gave her the Skywalker pout in rebuttal.

"But I don't want to stay here while you and daddy are all kissing," Elsé argued, while everyone laughed, eyeing each other amusedly. "That's right!" Elsé declared. "I know that's what you do and I don't want to have to stay here and see kissing."  
"Well Els," Leia raised an eyebrow at her. "If you come with me, you're not going to escape that."

"Wha-" Anakin began, but Padme shot him a menacing look. "She-" he tried again, Padme rolling her eyes at him.

"For Force sake Anakin, she's almost twenty," Padme reminded him. "She's going to a party, what do you honestly expect her to say? We were married when you were her age, are you even aware of that?"

"We… we were?" Anakin asked, eyeing his daughter in front of him. "I was that young?"

"And now you _finally_ understand why I was so hesitant to ruin your life," Padme teased quietly. They hadn't ever told the children that the code used to be different. Both agreed that nothing good could come of the kids knowing their father had deliberately broken the code, and miraculously inspired the Council to change it.

"Ruin his life?" Leia asked quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

"You have _amazing_ hearing," Padme stared at her daughter incredulously, then exchanged a nervous glance with Anakin.

"Yeah I'm a Jedi too, _remember_?" Leia said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Seriously what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Anakin said firmly, and Leia knew not to argue, though her eyes begged her mother to tell her, and Leia could tell that Padme really wanted to.

"Leia!" Came another voice approaching them from the adjacent hallway. Taryn walked into the room, also dressed up. "Can I come with you?"

"Taryn, I-"

"Please, Leia?"

Suddenly, they both stopped talking out loud, and at first Padme and Anakin were thrown off guard. However, it was soon apparent they were talking through the Force.

"Wait, when did you become able to block me from your Force conversations," Anakin asked nervously, staring at them.

"When you taught me, dad," Leia reminded him, smiling.

"Well what about you?" He asked Taryn, who smiled back nervously.

"Who do you think taught me?" She asked, smiling lovingly at her father.

"I'm going to _kill_ Obi Wan," Anakin said angrily. "I didn't teach Leia that until she was 18, just before the trials, because she was an _adult_, and I respected the fact that an adult has the right to private thoughts, but at your age there is no need to be able to hide your conversations in your head from me."

"Our family is so not normal," Padme muttered under her breath, smiling ruefully at the situation.

"Ok, well would it be better if we went in the other room and talked out loud where you couldn't hear us, because normal people do that you know," Taryn informed him, and Leia laughed despite herself, though she stopped suddenly at her father's look.

"Zeke, stop!" Came screams from the living room.

"I can't, I don't know-"

"You're going to-"

"Help, I-"

"Look out!" Bail yelled, as suddenly every Skywalker in the kitchen jumped to the ground (Anakin pulling Padme with him) as a barrage of laser blasts set for stun hit the wall behind them and a very guilty looking Zeke and Bail sulked into the room.

After a minute spent trying to absorb the situation, Anakin stood up to his full height and turned towards his sons. "You'd better thank the _Force_," Anakin began slowly. "That those blasts were set for stun."

"But…but no one got hit," Zeke protested.

"That's beside the point," Anakin contested sternly. "Someone could have."  
"You all sensed it, you were on the ground before the blasts even came into the room," Bail argued vehemently, crossing his arms.

"Your mother didn't," Anakin scolded them. "And one of these days, I won't be there to defend her."

"I feel _so_ pathetic in this family," Padme interjected, as Leia and Taryn shot her a sympathetic glance.

"Boys, why did you even have your blasters out in the house?" Anakin asked them sternly.

"In most families," Leia contributed, "the ten year old doesn't own a gun."

"By the way, where is Luke?" Taryn asked, noticing the absence of the last family member.

"Who in Sith's name knows," Leia rolled her eyes at her missing twin. "He was supposed to come to this party with me, which by the way I'm now going to be late to, thanks boys," she smirked at Zeke and Bail. "But then he just disappeared, probably he's going to end up there but don't ask me."

"Well-" Padme began, only to get interrupted by Leia, who sensed what she was about to say.

"He's fine, don't worry," Leia assured her mother, as the rest of the family nodded in agreement.

"I hate it when you guys read my mind," Padme frowned.  
"Sorry," Came six voices at once.

"Ok, I'm leaving now," Leia said quickly, knowing it was best to slip out while her father was still dealing with the boys. "Taryn, I just don't feel comfortable taking you out with me yet, I'm sorry ok?"

"You know, big sisters are supposed to take their younger sisters out with them, that's like the whole point of having one," Taryn argued hotly, annoyed at Leia.

"Just not tonight, ok?" Leia said firmly. "Mom come here for a second." Padme followed Leia out into the hallway, leaving the rest of them in the kitchen.

"Fine," Taryn muttered angrily under her breath. "Has anyone seen my light saber by the way?"

"I can't even tell them apart anymore," Anakin informed her, as they all turned to the pile of light sabers on the kitchen counter.

"There's six," Elsé informed them, counting them with her fingers. "That means one's lost, cuz six of you plus dad."  
"No, there's only six," Taryn looked at Elsé confused. "Leia doesn't have a light saber anymore, does she?" She asked her father, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Luke keeps 'losing' his and giving them to her," Bail informed them, immediately regretting divulging that secret upon receiving a sharp look from Anakin.

"He does?" Anakin asked angrily, knowing that this behavior was illegal but kind of impressed with his children's ingenuity.

"Um… hey dad, remember how we shot six holes in the wall?" Bail asked, going for the lesser of two evils.

Out in the hallway, Leia pulled her mother aside. "So why did you say that marrying dad would ruin his life?" She asked, staring at her mother interestedly.

"It's…such a long story Leia," Padme said quietly, looking away from her daughter. "I-"

"Look, think about it, and tell me later, ok?" Leia asked.

"I…ok, maybe," Padme smiled. "Have fun tonight, be careful ok?"  
"Of course," Leia smiled. "Don't worry."

"I try not to, but it's hard," Padme smiled. "I still think of you as a little girl you know."

"I know," Leia smiled. "You always call Ellie Leia."

"I just forget that you're all grown up, so it's hard for me to think about you out like this, I know what men can be like."

"I know, but you have to remember that I could probably kill most of these men without even getting bruised," Leia laughed. "So you don't have to worry about me getting hurt."

"I know that- I don't worry about you getting hurt physically, Leia," Padme smiled. "It's emotionally."

"I'll be careful, you know I always am."  
"I know. Hey at least I'm not as bad as your father."  
"It's ok, I know dad just can't stand to see us all grown up," Leia smiled lovingly.

"You are very special to him, I hope you realize that. Not only were you his first daughter, you were his first Padawan, but also…well, I can explain more, later…"

"So you are going to tell me," Leia egged her on.

"Good _night_, Leia," Padme raised her eyebrow at her. "Oh, and try to find your brother before the week is up, ok?"

"Of course," Leia laughed. "Love you."

"I love you too Leia," Padme sighed as her eldest daughter walked out the door, and returned into the kitchen.

"I'm not saying I'd rather face a Sarlaac, I'm just saying that falling into a nest of Gundarks would be difficult to escape," Bail was arguing with Zeke.

"I escaped it once," Anakin said quietly, as his children all turned to him.

"You did?"  
"Yes, in fact I saved Obi Wan from it," Anakin said proudly, relishing in the fact that he could still captivate his children's interest.

"When?" Taryn asked, and Anakin, now surrounded by his children, began to tell them the story.


	3. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2**

"So you _are_ here," Leia said sarcastically to her twin brother as she pushed her way over to him.

"Leia!" Luke yelled unnecessarily, obviously having had a little bit too much of the famous Jedi weakness, the blue stuff. "Great party, huh?"

Leia rolled her eyes. "Way to tell me when you left the house!"

"Oh, oh yeah, I'm really, really sorry," Luke apologized overenthusiastically, sloppily putting a hand on Leia's shoulder.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Leia murmured, plucking her brother's hand off her shoulder and letting it dangle at his side. Luke could be so ridiculous sometimes.

"Want me to get you a drink?" Luke asked excitedly, eyeing his empty glass in obvious contemplation of refilling it as well.

"No, I'll get one myself, and please Luke, don't have any more," Leia instructed, and Luke pouted at her.

"Way to ruin the party for me, laser brain," Luke insulted her as if they were still four years old.

"Um, yeah," Leia muttered, wandering away from her brother. Leia sighed, fully aware that she was leaving Luke to pathetically hit on every girl in the party and, because he was a Jedi and a Skywalker, have many successes despite his lame pick up attempts and sadly nonexistent knowledge of the female gender (even though he had grown up with a twin sister). Someday, Leia pledged to herself, she would try to help Luke, but for now, she quite enjoyed observing these highly amusing situations. As she wandered over to the bar, a gruff voice speaking right next to her ear tore her from her thoughts.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"No thank you, I'm fine," Leia said proudly, as she always did to the random men she met at bars. She turned and marched to the other side of the bar.

"Hey, don't get excited, I'm just trying to be nice," said the same guy, following her.

"And I said, no thank you," Leia echoed firmly- this guy was insufferable. And yet- something about the way he talked felt familiar…but that was impossible, she told herself, trying to ignore him.

"Fine," he muttered, finally moving away. "Have it your way, Princess."

At this, Leia froze. Where had she heard that before? Why did she feel so strongly that she knew this man? And not just from her memory- his force signature was familiar too. She stared after him, certain she had never met him yet unable to shake that feeling of familiarity. He looked about ten years older than her, five or six at least, and not at all familiar. And yet, a distant memory kept telling her that she knew him, kept trying to surface but then fell back again just as she thought she might remember. She signaled to the bartender to bring her a drink, and then sat there sipping it subconsciously, staring off in front of her and trying to figure out why she had such a strong feeling that she should know this man.

Leia sat for a long time pondering this- forgetting to greet her friends or to go try to keep her brother out of trouble. Obviously the man didn't recognize her- he had casually slipped away when he could tell she wasn't interested and started talking to a Wookie. A Wookie! Suddenly, Leia knew she had seen this Wookie before. But she had never been to Kashyyyk- had she? How did she even know what a Wookie was? Reflecting on this thought, she realized that there was no reason she should know. She didn't recall ever being told what one was, and yet something in her brain had automatically attached the word Wookie with the creature to whom this man was now talking. Beginning to question her own sanity (a process that wasn't all that uncommon for her, considering her family), Leia sighed, knowing that this memory would bother her forever if she didn't figure it out. Resignedly, she decided (much against any social paradigm in which she had ever believed) to actually go back to this man and initiate conversation to try to figure out why she knew him.

However, her action was interrupted when two rough looking creatures broke out into a fist fight right beside her. Evidently they were at odds in a dispute over money, a considerable sum from the random foreign curses she could pick up on. Fights like this weren't uncommon, but Leia detected quickly that both creatures held blasters of considerable firing capability, and neither seemed at all like the type to hold back using a weapon like that, even in a public place.

'Luke,' she called through the Force, immediately questioning whether involving her inebriated brother was a good idea or not. However, he soon appeared across the room from her, looking lucid enough to at least handle the situation Skywalker style.

'What's going on?' He asked her through the Force casually, staring at his twin intently. They were able to communicate through the Force with extreme facility, and had willingly participated in many studies conducted by Jedi healers on the matter. Because they were the first Jedi knowingly related, and they were twins, and their father had been conceived by the midichlorians, their intuition in the Force was higher than anyone had ever seen before, and their bond with each other was extremely close. Everyone could communicate somewhat through the Force, Masters and Padawans especially, and all of the Skywalkers handled this skill with uncanny ability, but Luke and Leia hardly even had to try. Sometimes they could read each other's thoughts without even meaning to (a fact that Leia did not appreciate at all), and this fact fascinated the Council. They didn't have to keep Force conversations laconic, but could say absolutely anything to one another with facility.

'Some kind of scuffle, I don't know,' Leia informed him, and Luke began to walk over to investigate. 'They both have extremely dangerous weapons.'

'Well it's not like we can do anything unless they pull them out,' Luke told her logically, and they both knew it was true.

'We can try to mediate at least,' Leia suggested, and Luke nodded pensively.

'Maybe they'll work it out,' He said lazily, not wanting to interfere.

'Obi Wan would be _so_ proud,' Leia said sarcastically, and Luke smirked at her.

"I don't have time for your lies," yelled one of the thugs in front of them in a foreign language. But before he had even raised his blaster, it seemed to disappear. He looked up, bewildered and angry, and then saw Luke Skywalker standing over him, blaster in hand.

"There's no need to bring a weapon into a room full of innocent people," Luke said in basic.

"What about you?" Replied the offender in accented basic. "I know Luke Skywalker wouldn't leave his house without his light saber."

At this, the man Leia had spoken with earlier turned his head sharply, suddenly interested in the confrontation. Leia took notice, and was now certain that they had met before- obviously, he knew their name and had some connection to them. He stared at Luke, not yet connecting the woman he had just spoken to with the man who's name he obviously recognized, and conversed briefly with the Wookie. Then, much to Leia's surprise, just as she thought the man would approach Luke and talk to him, he slipped out of the party.

"How do you know me?" Luke demanded of the creature in front of him unnecessarily. Almost everyone knew them, and those who didn't certainly knew their father. Though it was strange that this creature knew Luke's face- the Skywalker name was universally famous, but the children weren't always recognized by sight- it also wasn't rare that someone did recognize them, and Leia saw nothing strange in this fact. The Skywalker name was familiar to everyone, thanks to their father and mother, and their parents had warned all of the children always to be careful of anyone who might want to kidnap them because of their family's fame. Of course the kids all dismissed this as ridiculous, but Padme and Anakin were always extremely adamant about making sure that the kids were all safe and accounted for at all times. And suddenly, a very distant memory shot up to the surface of Leia's mind, so distant that it felt more like a dream than a real memory, and yet something told Leia that it was real, and it was important.

'What's wrong?' Luke asked her through the Force, sensing immediately whenever his twin felt any kind of distress. However, outwardly he remained in control of the situation, standing imposingly over the ruffians in front of him.

'The man who was standing in the corner a minute ago, did you see him?' Leia asked quickly. 'Talking to Chewbacca?' Chewbacca? Now she had a name for the Wookie? Maybe she really was going crazy. And yet, she knew that was his name, she felt absolutely certain, and looking into her brother's eyes she could tell that the name resounded familiarly in his mind as well.

'Why, in a situation where normally I would think you were crazy, is that name so familiar to me?' Luke asked, and Leia could feel that he was just as confused as she was.

Suddenly, Leia was aware that everyone in the bar, none of whom could actually hear their conversation, was staring at them strangely, wondering what was going on. 'Say something,' she instructed her brother, who also started to notice the curious looks of the other guests.

"Why don't you two settle your problem outside," Luke suggested, using the Force not at all subtly to push the decision in the minds of the offenders. "_Without_ blasters," he said quickly, Force pulling the other blaster from the second creature in front of him.

"That's stealing," argued the blaster's owner fiercely, confronting Luke suddenly with another blaster he obviously had hidden in his jacket. However, a blue blade soon confronted him menacingly, as, at the same time, his second blaster disappeared from his hand. He looked up angrily, and saw Leia holding the blaster and Luke staring at him, light saber in hand.

"I'm not entirely sure these weapons are even legal," Luke said menacingly, studying the manufacturing codes on the blasters. "Get out of here, or I _will_ report you to the council."

Grumbling, the wrongdoers quickly scrambled out of the party, Luke highly doubting that they had even been invited.

"Thanks," said one of the party hosts, and Luke just nodded. Soon enough, everyone had resumed their conversations, and Luke pulled Leia to his side to converse normally.

"Why do we know them?" Luke asked quickly, as fully aware as Leia that somewhere in their past they had encountered those two before. "You're right, about the Wookies name. You're right."

"Do you remember ever being on Kashyyyk?" Leia asked him, and as Luke stared at her suddenly she felt that same feeling of a distant memory surfacing in his mind.

"Yes," He said firmly. "Only as if, it were a dream, or something…"

"I think it's because we were really little," Leia continued, as she and Luke stared intently. "Luke… I feel like we were kidnapped there, held there…"

"Leia, that's imposs-"

"Luke," she interrupted. "I feel like we were captured…by Sith." She stared at him fixedly, knowing how ridiculous this sounded and yet strangely sure of what she was saying.

"That's ridiculous Leia, you know that Dad killed the Sith in the Clone Wars, right before we were born" Luke argued, though Leia could tell he felt that she was right. "We weren't even alive."

"Or so they tell us," Leia said casually, though she stared straight into Luke's eyes.

"Why would they lie," Luke argued defiantly, not wanting to believe that his father, or his master, or any of the Jedi he respected would have lied to him about his own past.

"To keep us safe," Leia offered. "To take a memory that would be difficult for young children, and get rid of it. Luke, they might not even have lied, they just might have, well, let us forget…"

"I still don't-"

"Luke, I already know they're not telling us everything about the past," Leia continued to argue.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, growing increasingly intrigued.

"Earlier tonight, mom said something to dad, really quietly so none of us could hear… but Luke I heard anyway and when I asked her about it, it was like- like she wanted to tell me something that she couldn't tell me. It seemed really important, like they're keeping something from us, like-"

"Leia," Luke interrupted frustratedly. "What did she say?"

Leia bit her lip. "I was joking around with Elsé," Leia began, trying to provide the context so that Luke would understand. "She wanted me to take her away from mom and dad kissing, and I told her, in front of dad, that if she came with me she might be seeing that anyway, or something…"

"And dad flipped out, naturally," Luke laughed with his sister.

"Well, he tried to, but mom kind of stifled him," Leia smiled.

"Of course."

"Anyway, she reminded dad that they were married when he was our age," Leia continued, as Luke nodded, listening attentively. "And of course, he refused to believe it, and he just said 'I was that young?' or something…and then, Luke, mom turned away from us, and whispered to him, 'So now you see why I was so hesitant to ruin your life?'"

"What?" Luke asked, now captivated by Leia's story. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Leia nodded contemplatively. "But I asked her about it, and she kind of admitted, without meaning to, that there was something to tell. And it seemed like she wanted to tell, but couldn't… Luke, I feel like there's a lot they're keeping from us…now does it seem more possible that they would lie about our past?"

"I don't even care about our own past anymore- I want to know why getting married would ruin his life!" Luke exclaimed, and Leia nodded.

"I think we should go talk to them," Leia suggested, and Luke nodded firmly.

"Plus, Els and the others could probably use some rescuing from mom and dad," Luke joked, as Leia smiled fondly about her little siblings.


	4. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3**

"Hey Taryn, what's up?" Luke asked as he and Leia slipped back into their house, finding Taryn watching the HoloNet alone in the main room.

"Well, I've been watching this all night, seeing as a certain _sister_ abandoned me," she said angrily, looking frustratedly at Leia.

"Taryn," Leia sighed, rolling her eyes. "I take you places all the time, this just wasn't a good night for you to come, ok?"

"Whatever," Taryn shrugged, annoyed.

"Why didn't you call your own friends?" Luke asked calmly, trying to mediate the dispute between his sisters.

"No one's around," Taryn complained. "Almost everybody is on missions right now, but naturally Obi Wan's been stationed on Coruscant for almost a year now. We haven't done anything interesting in so long."

"It's not like they're doing anything interesting either," Leia pointed out. "Nothing of note has happened in the galaxy since Luke and I were little. They're doing the same kind of boring policing you and Obi Wan are doing here."

"She's right though, Obi Wan can be pretty boring sometimes," Luke laughed, fondly recalling his time as Obi Wan's Padawan. "Leia's the lucky one, she had dad."

"Right, try having your own father as your Master, it's really a _lot _better," Leia sad sarcastically. "You guys have it way better, Obi Wan's much more fun than dad."

"They're both pretty dull lately," Taryn pointed out, as Luke and Leia nodded, amused. "They must have been so much cooler during the Clone Wars. Dad was telling us tonight about how one time, Obi Wan fell into a nest of Gundarks. It seems like it was way more exciting back then…I wish they would talk about it more, or better yet, some big problem would break out now and we could deal with it."

Leia and Luke eyed each other warily, both thinking about what they wanted to ask their parents.

"What?" Taryn asked interestedly, noticing their look and also sensing their excitement mixed with uneasiness.

"Nothing," Leia lied, and though Taryn knew they were hiding something she didn't push it. "You're right though, they don't tell us much about those days." She looked at Luke seriously, who nodded.

"Where is dad?" Luke asked, trying to sense any other family members nearby and only finding distant force presences.

"Well, let's just say this is one of those times where Obi Wan's Padawan is way luckier than dads," Taryn said, nodding to her left to indicate Anakin's whereabouts. Looking speculatively down the hall, Luke and Leia followed Anakin's force signature and found themselves approaching the balcony at the far end of the house. Confused, they walked out onto the balcony to find Anakin carefully surveying Zeke and Bail who were kneeling on the ground, apparently scrubbing the tile of the balcony floor.

"I said scrub, not sit around lazily and make the Force do it for you," Anakin scolded, as Bail sat back and used the Force to move his brush in front of him. Luke and Leia looked at each other and almost burst out laughing- this kind of thing was typical punishment if Anakin got mad. There was absolutely no reason for any of his punishments, yet he invented them all the time just to instill 'discipline' in his children (and Padawans). They themselves had done so many of his menial tasks for punishment that they couldn't help but feel little pity and mostly amusement upon watching their younger brothers. Plus, Anakin had been such a troublemaker himself, as they knew from Obi Wan's stories, and so often encouraged pranks, that they found it funny that at random times he would punish them with such harsh measures.

"My hands hurt," Bail complained, looking angrily up at his father and Master.

"Consider that a sampling of how much someone might have been hurt had your laser blasts hit one of us," Anakin said sternly, as Bail groaned and grabbed the brush back into his hand, dipping it in a bucket of soap and water and continuing to scrub.

"If I _can_ use the Force, why shouldn't I?" Bail argued contentiously as he scrubbed.

"Because, Jedi need to be strong, not just in the Force, but physically," Anakin informed him strictly. "And as my Padawan, you will learn that."

"But I'm not even a Padawan yet!" Zeke whined, pouting at his father. "Why do I have to do it?"

"This is more about the punishment," Anakin reminded him. "You set off two blasters in the- oh, Luke, Leia, hello!"

"Hi dad," Luke greeted, as he and Leia bit their lips to hide their amusement. "What did they do?"

"Almost killed us, that's what," Anakin informed him angrily.

"Dad, the blasters were set for stun," Leia reminded him, gradually feeling more and more pity for her little brothers out here in the cold.

"How do you know?" Luke asked her, seeing as she had spent the last two hours with him at a party.

"It happened before I left," Leia informed him.

"So they've been out here for two hours?" Luke asked, also beginning to pity his brothers.

"Not quite," Anakin said, a twinkle of amusement still in his eyes despite his harshness with the boys. "They had to repair the holes in the wall first."

"I think it's been long enough, don't you?" Leia asked sweetly, giving Anakin a kiss on the cheek that she knew melted his heart.

"Well, I guess, but-"

"Daddy don't be too mean," she chided him. "Remember all the things you did to Obi Wan?"

"I guess you're right," Anakin nodded, unable to disagree with Leia. "Ok boys, that's enough, go put your buckets away and you can go play."  
"Thanks Leia!" Bail yelled, giving his sister a hug as they all stepped inside.

"Thanks Leia!" Zeke echoed, also hugging her as he hurried away. "Thank the Force for Leia," they heard him say to Bail as the boys hurried down the hallway. Leia and Luke laughed, and Anakin looked slightly perturbed at how he had been manipulated so easily.

"You two are home early," he commented, wondering why his eldest children, who usually stayed out all night, had suddenly decided to come home _before_ he had gone to bed. They headed towards the sitting room, where Padme had Elsé on her lap and was reading her a story. Elsé was in her pajamas and falling asleep, but as soon as she felt her older siblings' presences nearby she jumped up and ran to great them. As Anakin watched, he realized how completely fulfilling his life was right now. He loved his family so much, and that sight of his beloved wife reading to their youngest daughter just reassured him that he had been able to provide for his family and make them happy and at peace- the dream that had eluded him for so long finally seemed complete.

"Hi Lukey! Hi Leia!" Elsé greeted enthusiastically, as Luke picked her up and she giggled with delight. Anakin laughed fondly at his youngest daughter's enthusiasm, again filled with happiness as he looked at his oldest son, now grown up, holding his youngest daughter affectionately.

"You two are home early," Padme echoed Anakin's earlier sentiment, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Yes, we actually-" Leia began, but Elsé soon interrupted her.

"Leia another boy called you tonight!" Elsé yelled excitedly. Anakin looked at Padme, flustered, and Leia and Luke laughed.

"Do you know who?" Leia asked calmly, smiling at her little sister.

"No," Elsé said sadly, ashamed that she couldn't be of more help. "Oh, Taryn knows though!" She informed Leia.

"It was Kale, I think," Padme told Leia, who nodded.

"Don't worry dad, he's just a friend," Leia told Anakin, as Padme and Luke tried not to laugh.

"Isn't it time for your bed, kiddo?" Luke asked Elsé who pouted angrily at him.

"Thanks for bringing _that_ up," she sighed, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, Els," Luke laughed, putting her down.

"He's right though," Padme said firmly. "It's way past your bedtime."

"I'm going," Elsé pouted, turning sulkingly towards her room. "Daddy aren't you coming to say goodnight?" She asked, pulling on the sleeve of his robes.

"Of course," Anakin smiled, grabbing his little girl's hand and leading her to her room. As they walked out, Luke and Leia sat awkwardly down on the couch with their mother- she could tell something was up, and they knew it.

"Now, why did you really come home early?" Padme asked, eyeing her twins suspiciously. Anakin, as gifted as he was with the Force, could sometimes be oblivious to the more subtle feelings of his children, especially when it came to Luke and Leia. As they had grown up they had become increasingly good at keeping Anakin peacefully ignorant of their behavior, but as a mother Padme could usually see through their white lies. She usually knew what was going on with them, and could always tell when something was bothering them, especially Leia. At this moment she knew both twins had something serious on their minds, and she intended to find out what it was.

"We…we…" Leia stumbled, she and Luke both at a loss for words. She looked at look nervously, who shrugged at her, just as unable to explain the situation as she was.

"Is something wrong?" Padme asked, suddenly concerned for her children.

"No, don't worry, we're fine," Luke assured her. "We just… we…"

'Luke, what if I talk to mom alone,' Leia asked through the Force. Luke knew this was probably a good idea, Leia and Padme were very close, and he certainly felt awkward in this situation.

'Just ask about what she meant earlier, about ruining dad's life,' he suggested to Leia. 'And then later we can confront them about that guy, and our own past.'

'Yeah, I think that's a good idea,' Leia agreed. 'Go talk to dad, tell him some stupid story about the party tonight that when you tell it he'll think is hilarious, and if I told it he'd freak out that I was at a party like that.'

Luke laughed, and Padme, who had been staring at them bewilderedly during their silence, suddenly realized that they were again talking through the Force.

"I really don't appreciate it when you do that," she said sternly, as Luke and Leia looked guiltily at her.

"I'll go see what dad's up to," Luke said, a little overenthusiastically. Leia rolled her eyes as he gracelessly got up and left the room, looking at them uncomfortably the whole time.

"What's wrong, Leia," Padme asked worriedly, knowing that Luke had left for a reason.

"What did you mean earlier?" Leia asked, and Padme knew immediately to what she was referring.

"You told Luke?" Padme asked nervously, biting her lip. She really hadn't meant for her children to find out this way (if ever) and she knew that it wasn't her place to tell them without first discussing it with Anakin. They had made the decision together to refrain from mentioning their past, and the old code. Because it concerned Anakin more than her she had to talk to him first. Now that Leia had told Luke, it would be impossible to let the issue be forgotten, and she knew the truth would soon come out.

"Of course I told him," Leia said, surprisingly angry. She hadn't realized how hurt she was that their parents had been deceiving them for so long about something so important. Suddenly, as she began to discuss it, she realized that she felt insulted to have been kept in the dark so much about the past.

"Leia, I… I can't tell you," Padme said sadly, staring lovingly at her daughter whom she knew felt very resentful towards her right now. "I have to talk to your father…"

"Why? What can be so important?" Leia asked frustratedly. "We're just interested… we wouldn't be angry. Look, I know the war was really difficult, whatever happened I'd understand…"

"What are you insinuating?" Padme asked suspiciously, suddenly aware that whatever Leia was thinking was way off. Both Leia and Padme, as politicians, were so good at speaking around a subject and never really addressing it that often their conversations got nowhere.

"Were you pregnant with us before you got married…you didn't want to tell him? Is that why it would 'ruin his life?'" Leia asked, deciding to be blunt. She and Luke had discussed it on the way home, and decided that this was the most plausible scenario. "It's ok, like I said, we don't-"

"No Leia," Padme said sternly, slightly insulted that her daughter would think that but realizing that it really did seem fitting after what she had said. "No, that's not it," she said more quietly, looking past her daughter.

"Sorry, it's just-"

"I know…" Padme nodded, understanding. "And just to clarify, having the two of you could never have ruined either of our lives. You were the best thing to ever happen to us, really… it's just that you were born at a very difficult time for us, for the Jedi and the Republic, for the galaxy…"

"I know, because of Palpatine," Leia said- they all knew about how the Chancellor had turned out to be a Sith, and how Anakin had defeated him. However, Padme and Anakin, and the Jedi order, had left it at that, trying to keep the fact that Anakin finally killing Palpatine had happened four years after the Clone Wars, after they had established the New Republic. Everyone just assumed that when Anakin caught Palpatine, he had killed him- only the Jedi Council, Padme and her family, and the high ranking Senators knew about the Sith camps, Plaegus, and Palpatine's final demise on Kashyyyk. And also the Jedi never discussed the old code, though, were a Padawan to go look in the archives, the record was there. No one actively hid the information, but no one spoke of it either. But most importantly, the children knew nothing of the fact that Palpatine had tried to turn their father to the dark side- that he had almost been successful.

"Yes," Padme nodded, not wanting to delve into the subject anymore than she had to. "Actually, your father and I were married three years before you were born," she smiled, remembering how they had secretly fallen in love and hidden their marriage for three years.

"Then what?" Leia asked, seeing the strange look of nostalgia, but also of sadness, in her mother's eyes. "Please, tell me."

Padme took a deep breath, looking into the pleading eyes of her daughter and wanting desperately to tell her, to share with her the excitement and the pain of hiding their marriage, the fear she felt when she found out she was pregnant, the joy of finally letting the secret out…but how could she tell her, without first asking Anakin?

"Ok," Padme sighed, suddenly ready to tell. "But your father will be angry with me."

"I can handle dad," Leia smiled, excited that she was getting somewhere in this quest for the truth. Her real motive, of course, was to get her mother talking so that Luke and she could finally ask about their own past, and the fact that her mother was talking excited her. However, she suddenly felt an extreme desire to know this secret, and was eager to hear it.

"Leia, when your father was a Padawan, the Jedi code was… different," Padme began warily, guilty that she was sharing this secret but happy to be talking with her daughter.

"Different?" Leia asked, now thoroughly confused. "I thought the code had been around for thousands of years."

"It had, which is why we were so afraid to…Leia, your father and I married illegally," Padme explained, looking nervously up at Leia.

"Illegally?" Leia asked incredulously. "How could it be- wait, you mean… the code?"

"Jedi weren't allowed to marry, or to have attachments of any kind," Padme told her daughter. "They were expected to dedicate themselves to the order, they could never fall in love or have a relationship."  
"But- but that's…so dad broke the code?" Leia asked, in absolute disbelief.

"He was assigned to protect me, when I became victim to several assassination attempts," Padme explained. "He was your age, and still Obi Wan's Padawan… it was his first assignment on his own, and we had to go into hiding, in the Lake Country of Naboo. We spent so much time together, and there was this tension in between us, but we couldn't speak of it. I felt so strongly about him, and he openly flirted with me and told me he loved me- but I refused to allow him to break the code and be expelled from the order. When he kissed me, it was like…like everything I hadn't even realized I was missing in life was suddenly right in front of me- but I couldn't have it, I couldn't- I told him we had to pretend we didn't feel anything, we had to ignore it…" Padme stopped, remembering the pain of that moment vividly.

"I can't believe it," Leia said softly, entranced with her mother's story. "That's so sad, and so romantic at the same time… I can't believe how strong you were, to hold back…"

"I had to Leia, I was the responsible one, your father was impulsive, angry, frustrated," Padme told her. "I couldn't let him do this, we were all to afraid he'd-" Suddenly she cut off, realizing she had gone too far with what she was willing to reveal.

"What?" Leia asked, suddenly feeling uncomfortable about what her mother had to say, but dying to know. "Afraid he'd what?"

"Turn to the dark side," said a sad voice from behind them. They looked up and saw Anakin leaning in the door frame, a sight Padme had seen so many times that suddenly made her feel very cold. Anakin looked angry and hurt, an expression on his face that Padme knew too well, but that Leia had never seen before.


	5. Chapter 4

**Ch. 4**

"Dad," Leia gasped in disbelief. Anakin looked at his beloved daughter sadly, then turned away, unable to face what he thought would be fear and scorn in his daughter's eyes.

"Anakin, I-" Padme began, her eyes full of sadness, now wishing desperately she had waited until Anakin could tell his story himself.

"No, it's…it's ok," Anakin said softly, though the frustration was evident in his eyes. "Luke asked me about it, too. They should know…"

'Way to ruin the plan, nerfherder,' Leia shot at Luke through the Force as Luke slid into the room from behind his father.

"But Anakin, I wouldn't have-" Padme tried again, but Anakin interrupted her for a second time.

"I just wish you'd let me tell them, that's all," Anakin continued, looking slightly betrayed. "I should be the one to tell them…"

"Anakin, what I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't have said it," Padme said frustratedly.

Anakin looked up at her, incredulous. It was true, she hadn't said anything about Sidious or the dark side yet- had he just given away his own secret? But she had certainly seemed to be leading there, she had to have been. "But, but you said I was frustrated, angry…"

"Yes, I was leading up to it, but I caught myself in time. I would never have told them about how you… about that," Padme said, looking lovingly but sadly at her husband, unable to speak out loud about how he had almost turned to the dark side. "But we can cross that bridge now, if you really want to," she said more sarcastically, lightening the mood somewhat.

"Oh," Anakin said, unable to find words. "Oh, you weren't going to…" He turned to Leia and Luke, staring into the eyes that he still saw as those of innocent children, and he suddenly felt he had betrayed them by keeping this from them. "Leia, Luke, it was you….you and your mother who saved me, it was-" He could hardly get out the words, he just stared past them ashamed that he had kept this from them.

"Dad," Leia said quietly, standing up and touching his arm. "It's ok…"

"Hey Leia, can I borrow your-" Taryn stopped short, entering the room to find her older siblings and parents all staring at one another with serious and pained expressions on their faces. Curious but also scared as to what could have them all so worried, Taryn looked towards her older sister, whom she could usually trust to tell her anything, only to find Leia staring past her at their father. "What is it…?" Taryn asked quietly, hoping that nothing terrible had happened.

"Taryn, I-" Anakin began, looking to his second daughter nervously. "Why don't you sit down, and I'll explain everything."

"Is something wrong?" Taryn asked nervously, eyeing her older siblings and trying to read everyone's emotions through the Force.

"No," Anakin said reassuringly. "Nothing's wrong, we were just…we were talking about something I should have shared with all of you a long time ago."

Anakin began to describe the past to his children, to try to make them understand it, and to tell them as much of the truth as he could. He explained the old code, how he and Padme fell in love and got married, and how Sidious almost succeeded in turning him to the dark side. And they listened, with the attentiveness they had given him as tiny children when he had told them Jedi legends or happier tales of his past, of his adventures with Obi Wan and his life as a Padawan. He missed this attention from his children, and when he began to see the compassion in their eyes he only wished he and Padme had revealed the past sooner. They soon moved past the issue of Sidious and the dark side, his children reassuring him that they understood- he had been tempted, but he hadn't turned, and that was what mattered in the end. What interested them the most was his and Padme's story of how they had hidden their relationship, and how Obi Wan had found out.

"I can't believe he didn't know for three years!" Luke exclaimed. "If I had known he was that oblivious I'd have tried a lot more with him when he was my Master."

"Luke, that's not-" Anakin tried to scold, but his daughter interrupted him.

"I still can!" Taryn said excitedly, as Luke laughed with her. "I wonder how much I can hide from him…"

"Dad you were so rebellious, I can't believe it," Leia commented, smiling at her father.

"Really? You _really_ can't?" Padme asked sarcastically with a loving smile at her ridiculous husband.

"All right, yeah, I can," Leia agreed- in fact, it was only fitting that Anakin would have gone completely against a thousand year old code and somehow, miraculously, gotten it changed to fit his specific needs.

"Thank the Force though," Luke said pensively, as he considered what his life would be like with the old code. "I don't think I could have lived like that, without being able to-"

'Luke, mom and dad,' Leia shot through the Force.

"To, you know, love my family… and, and stuff," Luke covered, as Leia, he and Taryn shared an amused glance. "Like how you couldn't be with your mom."

"Right, that's… that's what sucked, the most," Anakin nodded, glancing almost seductively at Padme who put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile. A moment of silence passed as Leia and her mother smiled amusedly at each other and the rest of the Skywalkers in the room looked awkwardly away from one another.

"Dad, just so you know," Leia said sweetly, bringing the subject back to his story. "We love you just as much as before you told us, if not more- you know that. I mean, your life was incredible, you managing to serve the Jedi like that even while worrying about mom, who you couldn't tell anyone about, I mean, it's incredible."

"It was," said Padme, looking lovingly at Anakin.

"I can't even imagine what it's like, being in danger all the time, in the middle of a war," Taryn commented. "I mean just earlier we were talking about how we wish something like that would happen, just so we wouldn't be bored but…I guess I'm really glad there's peace now."

Anakin smiled. "That's thanks a lot to your mother, you know," he said, putting an arm over Padme's shoulders.

"Yeah but we actually _know_ about that stuff, because it's public history and not part of the weird secret Jedi archives that no one ever talks about," Taryn said sarcastically as Luke and Leia laughed.

"Actually, it wasn't secret at all," Anakin noted, smiling amusedly at his children. "If you had looked, the record is there. We just don't talk about it."

"So mom how could you let yourself, a successful young politician, end up with a loser like this?" Luke asked jokingly, changing the subject away from his and his sibling's obvious failure to ever research in the archives.

"We just told you, on Naboo…"

"But really, I mean, how did you know that you loved him, you know?" Leia asked, interested in that time in her parent's life.

"I guess… there was something between us, like it was meant to happen," Padme said softly, smiling at Anakin.

"Yeah, except it took you ten years to realize it," Anakin pouted, and Padme laughed.

"Anakin you were nine years old when I first met you."

"Which I still find really disturbing, by the way," Luke commented, as Leia and Taryn nodded.

"Well I didn't see him again for ten years, it's not like we fell in love then, I just thought he was a little boy!" Padme argued stubbornly as the kids laughed.

"Dad I'm glad you told us," Leia said, putting her hand softly on Anakin's arm as she stood up. Taryn and Luke nodded and followed her to the hallway.

"I'm glad too," Anakin smiled, cuddling closer to Padme. "But, could you not tell your younger siblings yet? It's a lot to take, and also we don't want them thinking it's ok to break the code…unless it's _really_ important." He smiled as his children nodded and walked out of the room.

"I can't believe it," Leia said as she walked with her siblings down the hall. "There's so much more to their past than we knew…"

"Which I think proves our earlier thoughts," Luke noted, and Leia nodded in agreement.

"I knew you two were up to something," Taryn commented slyly, waiting for her siblings to explain to her what was going on. "There's something else you want to know, isn't there."

"Sometimes I hate being in a family so attuned to the Force," Leia commented, as Luke laughed.

"No, this isn't fair," Taryn argued. "I hate this twin…secrecy… gang up on younger siblings thing. I deserve to know what's going on, especially is it's as important as what you just got out of dad."

"Taryn," Leia laughed. "We don't gang up on you guys at all, maybe we keep some things to ourselves but it's only because we're older, not because we're twins or want to be contentious."

"I know," Taryn pouted in typical Skywalker fashion. "But I want to know."

"Seriously, how old are you?" Luke teased his sister, who smirked at him.

"Old enough to keep your secrets, laser brain," Taryn said hotly, as she and Leia shared a knowing smile.

"That… that…that's neither here nor there," Luke said stupidly.

"Good argument," Leia teased him as they sat in the more casual, family oriented sitting room, apart from the clean and formal part of the house in which Padme entertained important politicians and dignitaries, and Anakin invited Jedi.

"I'm the one who's victimized here," Luke argued stubbornly. "I have to deal with you girls ganging up on me all the time."

"Yeah, I'm sure its _horrible_," Leia said sarcastically as she and Taryn rolled their eyes.

"Anyway, what's going on?" Taryn asked her siblings intently. She sat on a footstool in front of them as they sat on the couch, staring engagingly at Leia in a way that she knew would make her older sister tell her.

"Ok, look…we think…that maybe mom and dad have kind of, let us forget some important parts of our early past," Leia explained to her sister patiently, actually grateful for a chance to discuss the issue out loud.

"Like what?" Taryn asked, very interested after Anakin's story in the mysterious past.

"Well, I saw this guy at the party who I kind of… recognized, but like from a dream, and I knew all this random stuff about him and his friend that I had no idea I knew," Leia explained pensively, as she thought again about the strange situation that night.

"Leia," Taryn began slowly, smiling lovingly but amusedly at her older sister. "Are you sure it's not just some guy you hooked up with one night?"

"Yes I'm sure Taryn, thank you," Leia said defensively, glaring at her little sister.

"Hey, I'm just trying to present the most likely possibility," Taryn explained calmly, as Luke laughed and high-fived her from behind Leia's back.

"Funny guys," Leia grumbled, not amused at all. "But I don't suppose you'd like me to get started on either one of your social lives?"

Taryn and Luke eyed each other nervously, then shook their heads vigorously.

"Then I'll keep my many retorts to myself, like a mature person would," Leia continued accusingly, as Luke smirked at her behind her back, and Taryn laughed.

"Anyway, this guy that I- _and_ Luke- recognized, brought back some weird memories that we want to ask mom and dad about, that's all," Leia finished, not wanting to get into the details at this time.

"Come on, there's more to it than that, I know!" Taryn argued defiantly, interested in this story.

"Look I'll tell you later, ok?" Leia asked tiredly. "I promise. Maybe we'll see him again… he was pretty cute," Leia smiled, further sparking Taryn's interest.

"Oh, really?" Taryn asked. "Well maybe I'll be around next time you see him," she giggled mischievously.

"No!" Leia said quickly. "Taryn, he's way too old for you. He's got to be about eight or so years older than me."  
"Who says that's too old?" Taryn asked defiantly.

"I do, as your older sister," Leia said strictly. "Don't even think about it."

"Yeah you're right," Taryn nodded. "I just like to freak you out."

"Taryn I know you were half serious about that and it's not ok," Leia scolded, as Taryn looked away, annoyed.

"Ok then," Luke said suddenly, jumping up from the couch. "I'll leave you two to this _fabulous_ discussion…maybe I can find some little brother's to harass, anything's more interesting than this."

Leia and Taryn laughed as Luke walked away grumbling.

"I've never even been home this early," he mumbled as he walked out of the room.

"I'm actually really tired," Leia yawned, also getting up to go. "Shouldn't you get to bed too? I'm sure Obi Wan will want you well rested tomorrow."

"Leia I haven't even seen him in three days," Taryn informed her sister.

"Really? Why?" Leia asked interestedly- it was very rare for a Master to leave his Padawan alone for so long, especially Obi Wan with a Skywalker Padawan.

"He and Sabe are away at some Romantic spa place, it's their 15th wedding anniversary," Taryn recited, giving Leia a distressed look. "It's something I prefer not to think about," Taryn mumbled as Leia laughed out loud.

"When's he back?" Leia asked, still laughing at her little sister's predicament.

"Who in Sith's name even knows with them?" Taryn answered, shaking her head. "Honestly, sometimes it's like he's _my_ Padawan, especially when it comes to punctuality."

"Hey, don't be so quick to criticize Obi Wan," Leia scolded half-heartedly. "He's an amazing Jedi, you know that."

"Yeah, of course," Taryn agreed. "Oh well, I'll be in good shape when he gets back I've been sparring a lot with Bail who by the way is almost as good as Luke already."

"Oh come on Taryn, you should be able to beat Bail with your eyes closed. He's twelve!"

"Have you fought him recently? The kid's as tall as me Leia, and I swear to you he's going to be better than dad."

"I highly doubt that," Leia frowned. So far, Anakin was by far the best swordsman and pilot the order had ever seen, and as much as his kids proved themselves outstanding compared to other Jedi, none so far had been able to defeat him even sparring when he had one hand tied behind his back.

"I'm telling you, one day he will," Taryn argued. "Look!" She held up a hand with several minor burns on it, pouting at Leia. "The idiot sparred me with his real saber, thank the Force he had it set to low temperature. He didn't bother to check first if it was a practice saber."

Laughing, Leia held up her sister's hand affectionately to examine it. "Well I know you're good, so that is impressive. Still, don't let your baby brother beat up on you."

"Zeke's the baby, Bail's just my enormously tall little brother who's much stronger than me," Taryn said defensively, nursing her wounded hand. "All right, good night Leia."

"Good night Taryn, I've missed you, you know," Leia said warmly, thinking about how little time she'd spent at home lately.

"Yeah it wouldn't hurt for you to come around here more often, I seriously can't handle the boys anymore," Taryn laughed, as the sisters hugged and headed off to bed to think about their parents' incredible past of which they had just learned.


	6. Chapter 5

**Ch. 5**

"We have a new mission," Obi Wan announced, bursting into the Skywalker house at 7:00 the next morning. Only Elsé was awake, watching cartoons on the HoloNet tiredly. However, she perked up as soon as she saw Obi Wan, and jumped up and ran to him.

"Uncle Obi Wan!" Cried the little girl delightedly, as Obi Wan scooped her up into the air and hugged her. "You're back!"

"How've you been, Ellie?" Sabe asked, walking in behind Obi Wan and yawning. "Sorry we're so early, trust me it wasn't my idea." She glared at Obi Wan in annoyance.

"Oh don't grumble my love," Obi Wan said sweetly, pecking Sabe on the lips.

"Have you forgotten how to tell time?" Asked Anakin sarcastically, quickly tying his robe as he walked into the room.

"I'm sorry, did I disturb your beauty sleep?" Obi Wan teased, smiling warmly at his friend.

"Not exactly," Anakin mumbled angrily as Padme walked in, flustered and trying to straighten out her messy hair.

"Oh dear, I'm _so_ sorry," Obi Wan laughed, rolling his eyes as he gave Anakin a hug.

Suddenly, doors began to slam as angry children came stomping in to the main room.

"Are you aware that this is the _one day_ that we _don't_ have to be at the temple early?" Bail grumbled, glaring at his parents.

"I didn't even get to sleep 'til late last night because of all the deck scrubbing we had to do," whined Zeke at the same time, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What in Sith's name is going on?" Luke asked angrily, leaning in the doorframe.

"I've just remembered why I don't spend more time at home- I never get any _sleep_," Leia complained, glaring at everyone in the room.

"You know, it's actually a fact that teenagers need about nine hours of sleep a night, so I don't know what you're trying to do but-oh… hi Master," Taryn ended sheepishly, suddenly noticing Obi Wan by the door. At that, everyone was silent, as they all stopped bickering and turned towards the door.

"Obi Wan, what are you doing back?" Luke asked jovially, going to give his old Master a very manly hug.

"We have some work to do," Obi wan informed them. "All of us, and actually we need Leia too."

"But-" Leia began to protest, trying to remind Obi Wan that she wasn't in the Order anymore.

"We need you along, I can't explain it to you now, but please come," Obi Wan asked. "I can't order you, because you aren't in the order, but I ask you as a favor..."

"Of course I will come, if you really need me," Leia agreed. "As long as you explain this at some point and it becomes a little clearer what's actually going on."

"I'll explain more later, I just had to come tell you all to get ready," Obi Wan told her.

"I still don't see why we had to come this early in the morning," Sabe complained, as everyone nodded in agreement, looking at Obi Wan for an explanation.

"We've had plenty of rest this weekend," Obi Wan said defiantly to Sabe, suddenly realizing his choice to jump-start the day wasn't popular with anyone but himself.

"I don't know what you're remembering, but I seem to recall we hardly slept at all," Sabe said quietly, eyeing Obi Wan seductively as Padme and Anakin smiled and Luke, Leia, and Taryn eyed each other uncomfortably.

"Do they just enjoy making us feel uncomfortable?" Taryn whispered to her older sister, causing Leia to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"What?" Elsé asked, tugging on Leia's robe. "Why uncomfortable?"

"Nothing," Leia said quickly. "Never mind."

"Get off of me!" Bail yelled as he and Zeke were suddenly wrestling on the floor, each grasping for their light saber and then remembering they were still in their pajamas.

"Hey!" Anakin said loudly. "No fighting!"

"But, dad," whined Bail, going over to try to explain to his father why Zeke should be punished. "He started it."

"I didn't!" Zeke argued, pulling on his father's robes and pushing Bail out of the way. Suddenly, they were scuffling at Anakin's feet, and Elsé was pulling on her father's robe to try to get his attention. As Anakin struggled to maintain order, Obi Wan laughed warmly at his friend, amused but proud at how his once so rebellious and independent Padawan suddenly had a taste of his own medicine- or six tastes, really.

"Honestly Anakin, if you'd asked me twenty years ago what you'd be like today, I would never, ever, have guessed this," Obi Wan commented, smiling fondly at him. "But now look at you, the responsible father.""

"Yeah, it's _great_," Anakin said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and causing Padme to hit him on the arm sternly.

"Anakin!" Padme protested. "Don't say things like that in front of them. It _is_ great and you love it very much."

"They know I love them, plus they don't understand the sarcasm," Anakin argued defiantly.

"Um dad, it may be hard to remember, but some of us are almost twenty," Luke reminded him amusedly, rolling his eyes.

"Well you know I don't really mean it like that," Anakin continued to argue.

"Look, why don't you tell us why you're here Obi...I mean, Master," Taryn said, trying to change the subject.

'Thanks,' Anakin shot to her through the Force.

'Yeah, I need some money to go shopping,' Taryn shot back, smiling sweetly as Anakin frowned at her.

"There's some smuggling problems on the Outer Rim and in Hut Space," Obi Wan informed them seriously, going to sit down on the coach. "Nothing truly dangerous, but it's the most serious problem we've had in the past year and one that needs to be addressed immediately. Not only is illegal smuggling going on, but the Huts have begun to use bounty hunters more and more to catch and kill smugglers who don't pay off and sometimes even traders who aren't aware they're doing anything illegal. It needs to be stopped."

"Finally!" Taryn exclaimed happily. "We've been on Coruscant _forever_."

"Why do you need us too?" Anakin asked, genuinely curious- it seemed like Obi Wan and Taryn could handle this themselves.

"Well, we're going to um…" Obi Wan suddenly was silent. 'We have to go Tatooine, and we need you not only because you speak Huttese but because you know the area,' Obi Wan told him through the Force.

"Oh,' Anakin said quietly out loud, nodding a bit nervously. He hadn't been back there since the twins had been kidnapped, and before that he had only lived on Tatooine as a slave. Suffice to say, he didn't have the best experiences there, and it only could remind him of his days in slavery, his mother's death, and his children's kidnapping. Plus, to avoid Luke and Leia remembering that and asking questions, he had never told them that he had grown up there, sort of letting them assume that he had been an orphaned Youngling left at the temple, like a huge percentage of Jedi were- which wasn't far enough from the truth to make him feel guilty for keeping them uninformed. 'They'll find out the truth,' he said to Obi Wan through the Force.

'It's a risk we'll have to take,' Obi Wan agreed. 'But we really need you- all of you.'

"All right, Tatooine it is then!" Anakin said, trying to sound upbeat. The children of course payed no special attention to this, but Padme immediately turned her head towards Anakin, concern filling her eyes. Anakin looked back at her, giving a small smile. "When do we leave?" Anakin asked Obi Wan, turning away from Padme's concerned eyes and trying to sound excited and happy again.

"Today," Obi Wan said sheepishly, knowing he would get a barrage of complaints.

"What! That's such short notice there's no way I can-"

"But tonight I had a party to-"

"How can I possibly be ready by-"

"Excuse me," Anakin said loudly, eyeing his children strictly. "But I believe you've all sworn your duty to the Jedi order, and so, I suggest you pack what you need, eat something, and get ready to go."

"Sorry dad," Bail said quietly, though Anakin still eyed him strictly. "I mean, Master," Bail grumbled, humiliated, hating to have to call his father that in front of all his siblings.

"Am I coming too?" Elsé asked hopefully, smiling brightly at her father from where she stood hugging his leg.

"No, my little angel," Anakin said warmly, smiling lovingly at her. "I need you to stay here with Zeke and mommy, and keep practicing your lessons at the temple so you can beat me at sparring when I get back, ok?"

"Ok," Elsé smiled as Anakin picked her up and kissed her cheek.

"I wish I could go," Zeke said quietly, his voice full of sadness as he jealously watched his siblings file out of the room to pack.

"Zeke, you have to be the man of the house while I'm gone," Anakin said seriously to his son, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I can't bring you with me, or who will take care of Elsé and your mother?"

"Yeah," Zeke said unsurely, looking down at his feet.

"Hey," Anakin said sweetly, kneeling down to look his son in the eye. "I need you here, ok? I need someone really strong, who I really trust, to stay here and make sure things run smoothly, can you do that?"

"I guess," Zeke said, a little more proudly, smiling up at his father.

"Good," Anakin said seriously, patting his son's back.

"Come on Elsé, let's go play," Zeke suggested, taking Elsé's hand and leading her out of the room.

"I'll be back in a couple of hours, and we'll have to go then," Obi wan informed Anakin, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"I'll see you then," Anakin nodded, smiling warmly.

"Oh, and one more thing," Obi Wan said suddenly, stepping back from the door. "I can't believe I almost forgot this- we're going to have to pretend not to be Jedi."

"What? Why?" Anakin asked- this mission sounded more and more serious all the time.

"Because smugglers and bounty hunters will be watching out for that- they know we're watching them," Obi Wan explained seriously. "You've got to tell all the kids- no mind tricks, concealed light sabers, civilian clothes, at least for the beginning. We've got to blend in if we're going to discover what's really going on."

"All right, I'll tell them," Anakin nodded.

"Good," Obi Wan said, walking to the door. "Oh by the way- had you checked your com this morning, you would have known all of this long before I arrived. The entire Council was notified, and you should have actually expected me this morning. It's good to know things run smoothly while I'm gone-tell me, did you attend a single Council meeting in the past four days or were you this… busy every morning?"

"Oh get out of here," Anakin grumbled, pushing Obi Wan out the door and grinning sheepishly. "I'm the one who's been covering for _you_ for the past four days."

"I'll see you in a couple of hours," Obi Wan said, putting his arm around Sabe and pulling her out the door.

When they were alone, Padme walked over to Anakin and put her arms lovingly around his neck, savoring the time she had with him before he had to leave. This was his first mission away in at least a year, and she suddenly felt very sad that he was going. She felt transported to twenty years ago, before the twins' birth, when he had been constantly going away on missions and she had had to worry about him every second.

"I'll miss you," She said, kissing him sweetly and burying her head in his chest. "Be safe, and keep the children safe."

"I will," Anakin nodded. "I promise you."

"Will you be ok?" Padme asked, looking up deeply into his eyes.

"Yes, don't worry," Anakin assured her again, smiling amusedly at her concern. "This is a safe mission, no one will get hurt."

"No, I mean," Padme paused, stroking Anakin's cheek tenderly. "Will _you_ be ok, you know… on Tatooine, among the Hutts, on the Outer Rim."

Anakin bit his lip, and Padme could tell that he was worried. She knew it would be hard for him to go back, especially with all of his children who didn't even know about the past, especially so close to where his mother had died.

"I don't know," Anakin said honestly, though he suddenly adjusted his demeanor to a much more confidant one. "But I will try to be, and to just do what we're there to do, and get back to you as soon as I can."

"I haven't seen you go in so long," Padme said sadly, running her fingers through his hair. "I feel like it's back then, back before…"

"But it isn't," Anakin assured her, kissing her forehead. "There's no war, and there's no Sidious, and we will all be ok. I promise you."

"Just don't come back missing another limb, or something," Padme smiled, tenderly stroking Anakin's mechanical arm. "I can't stand to see you get hurt."

"You know that physical injuries are not the kind that hurt me," Anakin said, eyeing his mechanical hand pensively.

"Do you ever miss those days?" Padme said suddenly, after a long silence.

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked, genuinely confused.

"I mean, when you were always in action, always fighting- the Chosen One," Padme continued, looking at him intently. "Back when you were the hero of the galaxy- and now you're just here with your wife and kids at home every day."

"Padme," Anakin said seriously, rubbing her hand gently and looking into her eyes. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than here. Sure, I liked the excitement, and yes, back when I was younger and more headstrong I quite enjoyed the attention. But all I ever thought about was you. Do you even understand that? Even before we were together, I only thought about you, and how I wanted to be around you. I'm just so lucky that you actually fell in love with me, sometimes I still can't believe it."

Padme smiled, extremely touched, as tears came to her eyes. "Of course I did," she said simply, kissing him gently on the lips.

"I am so, _so_ glad we almost died that day on Geonosis," Anakin said as Padme laughed.

"So am I," she agreed, as he kissed her again, more passionately. "So am I."


	7. Chapter 6

**Ch. 6**

That afternoon, Anakin sat with Obi Wan and Luke in the Skywalker living room, Bail playing with Zeke in another room, as they all waited for the girls to get ready. For the guys, of course, throwing a few changes of clothes into a bag sufficed for packing, but for Leia and Taryn the process seemed to require hours, for reasons inexplicable to Anakin and the other males in the house. Normally, Jedi could leave on long voyages in an instant, and so Obi Wan had never experienced this with his Padawan before, but the problem here was that if they were to pretend to be civilians on this trip, Taryn would have to dress like a civilian, which meant shedding her Jedi robes and finding normal clothes. And so, as soon as she had realized this fact, Taryn had begged Leia to lend her some clothes and the girls had excitedly locked themselves into Leia's room to pack. Though the guys had experienced the same dilemma at first, it had taken them only about five minutes to take off their robes and pull on some spare clothes, and none of them understood why Taryn couldn't just do the same thing. Anakin remembered the day Leia had decided to leave the Order to pursue politics, and the ridiculously long (and expensive) shopping spree on which she and Padme had embarked to buy Leia pretty clothes. He only hoped his daughters dressed appropriately, he couldn't abide by half the things they wore when they dressed up- anything more revealing than Jedi robes seemed completely unnecessary to Anakin when it came to his daughters.

"I really am sorry this mission came with such short notice, Anakin," Obi Wan was saying, truly apologetic and just as annoyed himself that he had to leave his wife so suddenly. "But it can't be helped."

"Oh, it's all right," Anakin smiled, turning to his friend. "I'll miss Padme and the little ones, but I'm actually looking forward to the others being forced to spend a lot of time with me." It was true- Anakin was glad that he would have a lot of time with his older children, especially Luke and Leia who seemed to be drifting away from him. He was happy that they had their own lives, but even Luke, who he had to work with often in the Jedi order, spent a lot of time with girls or at parties and not a lot of time with his dad or Obi Wan, his former Master.

"I'm actually looking forward to spending some time with my Skywalker Padawans as well," Obi Wan said cheerfully, smiling warmly and turning towards Luke. "I've hardly seen Luke since he passed the trials…I did notice though, your new Jedi wardrobe is black, are you trying to intimidate someone?"

"I think it looks good," Anakin said proudly, putting his arm firmly on Luke's shoulder.

"Yes, well, you are the only other Jedi who wears black leather," Obi Wan teased, laughing fondly. "I remember the day you chose to wear that outfit, the Council had a good laugh about that one."

"You guys are so mean," Anakin grumbled, pouting at Obi Wan.

"May I remind you, Master Skywalker, that you're _on_ the Council now, and have been for almost twenty years," Obi Wan chuckled.

"I think Luke looks good in black," Anakin defended his son. "And I do too, you're just jealous you can't pull it off."

"Yes, _that's_ it," Obi Wan nodded, rolling his eyes. "The same way we're all _jealous_ of Mace's purple light saber." At that, Luke and Anakin both burst out laughing, then caught themselves and dignifiedly ceased.

"You know, the Council's gotten so much more sarcastic, and way less strict," Anakin noted. "I'm not sure that's such a good thing."

"Well it's all related to _your_ new code Anakin," Obi Wan reminded him. "Maybe you should have considered that."

"I still can't believe you didn't know for three years, Master," Luke laughed. "About dad and mom."

"You weren't there," Obi Wan said defensively. "You don't understand."

"Fine," Luke said casually. "I guess it _is_ hard to tell when your Padawan is sneaking off every night to a Senator's house that by the way had _glass_ walls... But whatever."

"You know, it wasn't that obvious, and the glass walls wouldn't make a difference if I wasn't _looking_," Obi Wan argued defiantly. "I think I liked it better when you didn't know."

"Be more respectful to Obi Wan," Anakin scolded Luke half-heartedly.

"Well Anakin, it's not as if they have the best example to follow of showing respect to Jedi Masters," Obi Wan teased, playfully nudging Anakin.

"Where are the girls?" Anakin asked quickly, changing the subject. "Taryn will be old enough to take the trials by the time she gets out of there."

"By the way," Obi Wan said suddenly, Anakin's comment reminding him of a topic he'd been wanting to discuss. "You and I both know that Zeke is more than ready to be taken as a Padawan…"  
Anakin nodded pensively, knowing exactly where Obi Wan was going with this. "Yes, it's going to be a problem."

"There's just no way Taryn can pass the trials in time, she's only just turned 16," Obi Wan noted, as Anakin nodded.

"And Obviously, Bail being even younger than Taryn, there's no way I can take Zeke," Anakin mused, as he and Obi Wan eyed each other frustratedly.

"I'll be honest, Anakin, I don't know what to do," Obi Wan admitted, looking intently at Anakin. "Someone else is just going to have to train him, I know you wanted it to be me but it simply can't happen."

"Yes, you're right," Anakin agreed sadly. After Luke and Leia became Obi Wan and his Padawans, respectively, Anakin liked the idea of continuing the tradition, plus he knew Obi Wan was attached to Skywalker Padawans despite what he might say. Everything had seemed to fit perfectly, and Anakin had kind of ignored the fact that Bail and Zeke were simply too close in age for the system to work. Its not that he didn't trust other Jedi, but the same kind of frustration and impulsiveness that had led him to the brink of the dark side certainly existed in all of his children, and Obi Wan and he knew how to best control it and use it to form strong Jedi instead of those flirting with the dark side. Of course, this characteristic was muted in the children, mainly because their lives presented them not only with happier and more stable surroundings than Anakin's had, but also because the new code allowed them to have lasting relationships outside of their Master-Padawan one- to explore romance and friendship and to openly share their frustrations with others. Nonetheless, the trait still existed in all of the children, and Anakin worried that another Jedi might not know how to best deal with a Skywalker- they were famous for their strength and also their mischievousness, but only Obi Wan, Anakin, and the older members of the Council understood where the strength truly sprang from, or how to control it.

"We'll just have to find someone who can handle your bloodline," Obi Wan was saying, smiling at Anakin. "One of the older Masters, who understands, perhaps…"

"They've all got Padawans, and none of them ever wanted even to deal with me," Anakin said, a note of hurt and sadness in his voice, as Luke stared at his father and former Master, starting to understand even more about the gravity of his father's situation, though still completely unclear about why people feared and worried about Anakin quite so much. (A.N. Remember, Luke and Leia and the kids _don't know_ about Anakin's upbringing on Tatooine or that he (and they were too, indirectly) was created by the medichlorians- they know that Anakin's 'the Chosen One', but don't really understand _why_)

"That's not true, they-"

"It is true Obi Wan, you know that," Anakin continued fervently. "You swore to Qui Gon you'd train me, that's the only reason even _you_-"

"Anakin," Obi Wan said loudly, in a warning tone, eyeing Anakin intently. Anakin realized he was about to say too much, and was silent.

'The truth will come out soon, Master, especially to the twins, especially on this mission,' Anakin said to Obi Wan through the Force.

'I know,' Obi Wan agreed. 'But let's make sure it's the right time.'

"I could train him," Luke said suddenly, having thought about it throughout the entire conversation. Obi Wan and Anakin turned to Luke, staring at him as if just noticing he was there.

"But you…you just," Anakin stuttered, unable to express himself clearly, and actually unable to argue with it. He hadn't even considered Luke, seeing as his son has just passed the trials a year or so ago, and upon first consideration Luke seemed far too young and inexperienced. Anakin didn't want to let him do this, but, as he knew Obi Wan was about to say, it made sense.

"It makes sense," Obi Wan said, eyeing Luke pensively, as if he was sizing him up. "It could work Anakin, it's still a Skywalker."

"He's so young though," Anakin argued, not wanting his son to have such a responsibility so soon. "Luke, you do understand the obligations involved…"

"I know," Luke answered honestly. "I know my social life will change, but really, I want to do it."

"Luke," Anakin said warningly, not sure his son was ready for this task, and not wanting Luke to have to give up his young life so quickly. "It's almost like having a child, you do realize that-"

"Look, I understand," Luke continued. "But it's not like any of us spent every second together, especially with this new code. I mean Obi Wan just left Taryn for three days and went off gallivanting with Sabe, so…"

"He does have a point," Anakin teased, turning to Obi Wan.

"Luke, I know you _could_ handle it, but do you really want this?" Obi Wan asked, ignoring Anakin.

"Look, I don't know how stupid you think Leia and I are, but we do know there's a lot about the past you're still not telling us, even after what we just found out," Luke commented, noticing the very badly hidden glance of nervousness between Anakin and Obi Wan. "I know that other Jedi are reluctant to train Skywalkers…"

"What makes you think that?" Obi Wan asked, as if he and Anakin hadn't just been discussing it.

"Look, I know there's something strange about our family-"

"Well, that's really a separate issue," Obi Wan teased, eyeing Anakin and Luke in feigned remorse.

"Look, I'm being serious here," Luke continued, entertaining Obi Wan's joke with a brief smile.

"You're right, there's more we need to tell you, but now's not the time," Anakin said seriously, looking intently at his son's eyes. "We haven't been completely honest with you."

"_Completely_ honest?" Luke said sarcastically. "I'm surprised you even told Leia and me we're twins instead of separating us at birth so that we know nothing of one another until we discover each other by chance later in life…like some crazy holo-drama or something."

"Luke, don't be ridiculous," Anakin said, rolling his eyes but chuckling at his son.

"Look, I can sense just as well as you two can that this is the right thing to do, plus I can sense you both feel more comfortable with me training him than someone else," Luke commented, as Obi Wan and Anakin nodded. "So let me do it, just promise me you'll fill us in on all of this mysterious past sometime soon."

"All right," Anakin conceded, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder and smiling. "You can train him, only don't say anything to him until we get back."

At that moment, Leia and Taryn emerged from Leia's room, dressed in very pretty and flattering clothes, that would look elegant to most eyes but of course too revealing to the eyes of their father.

"Wow girls, you look great," Luke complimented his sisters. "Taryn you look older."

"Doesn't she?" Leia smiled at her little sister. "She looks almost older than me, it's kind of worrisome."

"Yes, _exactly_," Anakin said, jumping at the opportunity to comment. "Way too old. Way too revealing of an outfit, take it off, change."

"Dad, it's a nice outfit," Leia argued, looking at her sister again.

"People are going to think you're some kind of tramp in that," Anakin said stubbornly. "You're only sixteen, can't you just wear something simple?"

"Dad, it's really quite an elegant-" Leia tried again, only to be interrupted again.

"It's not appropriate," Anakin, continued to argue, crossing his arms.

"I think it's pretty," Luke offered, trying to help his sisters out.

"I agree that it's pretty, that's the problem," Anakin complained, gesturing towards Taryn. "It will give scoundrels and lowlifes the wrong idea."

"Well it's Leia's dad, so don't get so angry at me," Taryn argued defiantly.

"Leia?" Anakin said, turning to his eldest daughter.

"Actually," Leia said, smiling amusedly at everyone around her. "It's not mine."

"It's not?" Taryn asked, turning to her sister questioningly. "Who's is it?"

"Yes, who's is it?" Anakin asked, also intrigued. "Who else would have an outfit like that?"

"It's moms," Leia smiled, enjoying thoroughly the look of shock, embarrassment, and then recognition on her father's face. "She gave it to me. It's from when she was a Senator, I think."

"Oh," was all Anakin could say. "Oh, I thought I'd seen it before…"

"So really dad, it's quite an elegant outfit," Leia continued, reveling in the irony of the moment. "That, or your just a scoundrel and a lowlife."  
"Like I said, it will give men the wrong idea," Anakin grumbled.

"What's going on?" Padme asked, entering the room. When she saw Taryn, she smiled, studying her daughter in her old gown. "That looks really nice on you, Taryn."

"You wore this?" Taryn asked, still not believing it was her mothers.

"Once," Padme smiled, adjusting part of it on Taryn and then going to sit down next to Anakin. "It's one of the outfits that caused your father to fall madly in love with me, isn't it Anakin?"

"Yes," Anakin grumbled, not enjoying this at all.

"Let me guess, he freaked out about you wearing it, thinking it was too revealing," Padme mused, laughing as she saw the nods of her children and Obi Wan. "I think it looks very elegant, Taryn."

"Thanks," Taryn smiled, still surprised by the fact that it was one of her mother's gowns. "When did you wear it?"

"She wore it back in the days when she was one of the most sought after women in the galaxy," Obi Wan commented, eliciting more unintelligible grumbles from Anakin. "Until, somehow, Anakin managed to win her over. I'm still unclear how that happened."

"Oh Obi Wan, you know that Anakin was far more adored than I was," Padme commented, kissing Anakin's cheek. "And by the way, so were you."

"Well, the Hero with no Fear certainly won for reveling in the attention," Obi Wan commented, as Padme and he laughed and the children just looked around at one another, confused but amused by the whole situation.

"I don't know, I think I could still pull that off, what do you think Anakin? It's a very attractive little outfit, isn't it Anakin?" Padme asked him quietly, kissing him again on the cheek.

"Yes," Anakin mumbled quietly, looking down at the floor.

"What?" Padme asked innocently, teasing him, pretending not to hear, enjoying teasing him very much.

"Yes," he said much more loudly. "Which is why _she_ needs to change."

"Don't change," Padme instructed. "You look great, and very respectable. I wore that in the Senate for goodness sakes Anakin."

"You also wore it on Naboo," He mumbled again.

"When was that, Anakin?" Padme asked, provoking him again.

"By the lake," Anakin mumbled, finally bringing his eyes up to look at her.

"Oh yes, I remember," Padme smiled, kissing him. "The first time we-"

"Mom!" All the kids yelled loudly, not wanting to hear it.

"I was going to say kissed, but it's good to know we've raised all of you with your minds in the gutter," Padme said, truly surprised by her children, looking at them with an amused smile.

"Trust me, I would remember immediately what you were wearing the first time," Anakin whispered to her seductively and kissing her ear, causing Padme to giggle.

"All right then," Obi Wan said loudly, standing up. "I think it's time to go."

"Now?" Anakin asked distractedly, staring deeply into Padme's eyes.

"Now," Obi Wan said firmly, as Luke went to get Bail and the other kids stood up to go.

"All right," Anakin sighed, standing up and pulling Padme up with him. "Goodbye my love," He said, kissing her deeply.

"Bye," she said afterwards, smiling. "Be careful!" She yelled as they filed out the door. "I love you all! You too Obi Wan," she laughed, shutting the door behind her. She felt very alone as she smiled sadly after Anakin, just like she had so many times in the past, never knowing if her beloved yet secret husband would ever return to her.

"Mommy!" Said a small voice from somewhere near the couch, and Padme smiled, her daughter's voice reminding her that this time, she wasn't completely alone, and that it was two products of her and Anakin's no longer forbidden love that would keep her company this time.

"Yes my darling," Padme answered Elsé, kneeling down to meet her daughter's eyes.

"Daddy forgot his light saber!" Elsé yelled excitedly, unsure of what to do.

Padme sighed, smiling to herself. "No he didn't," she explained to Elsé, smiling mischievously. "I took it off of his belt right before he left, so he would have to come back one more time."

"So you could say goodbye better?" Elsé asked sweetly, smiling at her mother and enjoying being let in on her secret.

"So I could say goodbye better," Padme nodded, smiling as she heard Anakin's hurried footsteps coming back to the door, just as she had so many times in the past. "I learned to do that years ago, Ellie, so that I always knew I would see him one more time."


	8. Chapter 7

**Ch. 7**

"I still don't see why we had to leave so suddenly," Taryn complained as they walked on the streets, already trying to blend in as civilians.

"I still don't see why I had to _come_," Leia grumbled, still confused as to why they needed her when she wasn't a Jedi any longer.

"Stop whining," Anakin scolded both of them. "Honestly Leia, how old are you again?"

"It's just that I have a lot to do here," Leia continued fervently, not afraid to show her annoyance.

"Your friends will be here when you get back," Anakin said, teasing his daughter as he fondly put his arm on her shoulder. "You can put your social life on hold for at least a couple of days. It's not like we didn't all have plans that we've had to cancel."

"It's not just that!" Leia exclaimed frustratedly. "I have more important things to do as well, like work. Politicians can't just leave a campaign right in the middle and go planet-hopping."

"Your mother did it."

"Well I guess she's just better than me, then," Leia said exasperatedly, throwing her hands in the air and stepping forward, away from Anakin.

"Would you two stop bickering, I can't stand it," Luke groaned, walking ahead so that he didn't have to stand next to them. "I'm no happier about it than either of you, but at least I'm being a man about it."

"Right Luke, cuz Leia' should totally be a man about it, you idiot," Taryn said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks Taryn," Leia smiled warmly at her sister.

"Hey I want you to shut up also," Taryn said, annoyed.

"Honestly, it's like you're all ten years old," Luke commented, groaning.

"I'm hungry, Master Obi Wan," Bail announced, kicking a rock in his path.

"I am too, actually," Anakin agreed, sighing, looking up at Obi Wan.

"Oh dear," Obi Wan sighed, throwing up his hands. "Two minutes out the door and its already started."

"What?" All of the Skywalkers asked at once, truly oblivious.

"Skywalker syndrome," Obi Wan said seriously, smiling and continuing to walk as they all stopped to look at him, perplexed.

"What are you talking about?" Anakin asked, defensive of his family.

"Oh Anakin, you're the worst one!" Obi Wan laughed, shaking his head. "The complaining, the constant jabbering…"

"I am not the worst," Anakin said defensively, pushing Luke in between him and Obi Wan. "He's way worse."

"No," Obi Wan shook his head. "You were _by_ _far_ the worst as my Padawan… But in your defense, the code you lived with was much stricter, so I guess you had a lot more frustration in you. Plus you had that all-encompassing and unrequited love for Padme, a woman you had met once when you were nine-"

"I got her didn't I?" Anakin interrupted proudly, smirking at Obi Wan.

"Yes, you certainly did," Obi Wan mused.

"Which you didn't know about for three years," Luke laughed, still unable to get over that fact.

"Look, to their credit, neither of them acted very differently- I just assumed Anakin was calming down a bit was due to his maturity…it wasn't until Padme was pregnant that there were any signs to point to some sort of scandal, and when I first realized that I didn't know _what_ to think…" Obi Wan mused. "I feel awful saying it, but we all thought the situation was far more scandalous than it really turned out to be."

"It _was_ interesting," Anakin mused, thinking back on that situation.

"I feel bad for mom, she had to deal with it all," Leia commented. "You just were supposed to pretend you had nothing to do with it."

"You think that was easy?" Anakin asked, defensively. "All I ever wanted to do was just shout to the whole galaxy that I loved her and that we were married, and I had to pretend I couldn't. You think it was easy for me to keep it from Obi Wan? I wanted to tell him more than anything."

"As touching as that is," Obi Wan smiled. "I know part of you enjoyed sneaking around."

"We did enjoy it somewhat," Anakin agreed, thinking back fondly to the beginning of their marriage. "And it certainly made everything a little bit more exciting, if you know what I mean," he said, nudging Obi Wan.

"Dad!" Leia exclaimed, as she, Luke and Taryn exchanged disgusted glances.

"But after a while it was so hard, especially when we were away on missions," Anakin continued. "I missed her so much, in every way, and I couldn't even complain to anyone…and for her, it was even worse…"

"I don't know how any of you ever could live with the old code," Luke commented.

"I really don't either, now that I think about it," Obi Wan nodded pensively.

"I just didn't follow it," Anakin commented off-handedly, providing his own explanation of how to live with it.

"Yes, we know," Obi Wan said, rolling his eyes.

"By the way," Leia said suddenly, approaching Obi Wan, having been analyzing their current situation in her head for the past few minutes. "Not to sound conceited or anything, Master, but this whole disguise part of the mission…well, won't we get recognized? I mean our clothes don't matter if people know who we are, and they definitely know you and dad."

"I don't think it will be a problem on the outer rim," Obi Wan answered honestly. "We don't look quite the same now as we did all those years ago, and the more modern news concerning us hardly reaches out there. I think only your mother and father would risk getting recognized out there, and he's going to be very careful."

"But she does have a point, Master… we probably should have told you but last night someone at that party knew who I was," Luke informed them.

"Who?" Obi Wan and Anakin both asked loudly, suddenly turning towards Luke.

"Woah," Luke said, taken aback at their concern. "Just…just some lowlifes, no one important, I just…"

"Oh, good," Anakin said quickly, as he and Obi Wan shared a relieved but uneasy glance that Luke and Leia noticed.

"All right, we're here." Obi Wan announced, happy to take the conversation in a different direction as he gestured towards a public spaceport.

"What? We aren't taking starfighters?" Anakin asked incredulously, very upset upon finding that out.

"Well, I don't think our guise of being normal civilians would hold if we were piloting around six starfighters, now would it? Come on, everyone on to the transport, here are your tickets," Obi Wan said firmly, as five grumbling Skywalkers took their tickets and boarded the shuttle.

"This will take so much longer though," Bail complained, noticing the practically ancient make of the ship and its huge size.

"Two days, to be specific," Obi Wan said cheerfully, walking down a hallway and beckoning for them to follow him.

"What? Obi Wan I can make this trip in less than a day in a starfighter, this is ridiculous," Anakin complained frustratedly.

"Yes but you drive like a maniac," Obi Wan commented, eliciting laughter from the children. Obi Wan turned to them. "You all are no better, seeing as your father taught you."

"You know, Obi Wan," Anakin began defensively, "I pride myself in being and training the best pilots in the galaxy, _thank you_, and the Council does seem to agree, we don't see you teaching advanced flying, now do we?"

"I agree that _you_ are the best pilot in the galaxy, although I'm not so sure you should be teaching it," Obi Wan teased. "I've always been a little frightened by that concept. But you are a natural, so I'll just try to assume your children are too. The others you teach… Force help them."

"I'm sorry you're afraid of flying, Obi Wan, I really am," Anakin joked.

"I'm not afraid of flying, only flying with you," Obi Wan taunted back, enjoying bantering back and forth with Anakin once again. "Ok, let's see…here are our rooms, Taryn and Leia get one to themselves, and the four of us have to bunk up."

"Oh no, I thought I was done living with you twenty years ago," Anakin complained jokingly. "I can't take any more of your snoring."

"Oh please, you snore like a Bantha," Obi Wan rolled his eyes, walking into the room.

"You are pretty bad, dad," Luke said, as Leia, Taryn, and Bail all nodded. "But then again, so is Obi Wan. Can't I sleep in the girls room?"

"Yeah right," Leia said quickly as she and Taryn walked into their room and locked the door, giggling.

"I don't understand girls at all," Bail complained, shaking his head. "Oh well, hopefully I will when I get older, right?"

Obi Wan, Anakin, and Luke all looked at each other somewhat ashamed that they couldn't be more reassuring. "No, no probably not," they mumbled, shaking their heads and going into the room.

"Well, this is cozy," Obi Wan said cheerfully, his eyes twinkling.

"No, this sucks," Bail said bluntly.

"Bail!" Anakin scolded, but after surveying the room, he just shrugged. "Actually, he's right."

"You see, this is the problem with _your_ new code, Anakin," Obi Wan commented. "All the Jedi are too spoiled now. Think back Anakin, you know that when you were my Padawan our quarters on most command ships were way smaller than this."

"Yeah, you're right," Anakin nodded. "This isn't so bad, live with it boys. I almost forget what it used to be like, _you're welcome_ by the way."

"Oh Anakin this doesn't actually have anything to do with the code, or with you," Obi Wan said sternly, rolling his eyes.

Hours later, after a bumpy take off and a day of intense boredom, Obi Wan and the five Skywalkers sat at a table in the dining room of the transport, wearing civilian clothes and carefully concealed light sabers. Anakin wore a hood to try to keep his face hidden, and instructed the children to avoid long eye contact with anyone. Being recognized really was a concern, and Anakin was especially worried about the children somehow finding out more about their past than he wanted if someone recognized them and began to talk. He knew the truth would all come out eventually, in fact he would probably have to tell the twins on this mission, but he wanted to be the one to tell them instead of having them find out sketchy details from the strange set of creatures aboard this transport. However, none of the children seemed especially excited to be there in the first place, and certainly weren't looking to strike up conversations with anyone around them.

"This food's actually not so bad," Bail commented, heading back from the buffet with his fourth plateful. "I kind of like it."

"You're a growing boy, you could eat anything and it would taste good, as long as there was enough," Obi Wan laughed fondly. "Your father was the same way, he probably would have eaten me if we'd run out of food."

Luke smiled at his little brother, already as tall as he was, and then began to survey the scene. Jedi were always observant, but Luke was particularly keen about noticing his surroundings. Suddenly, at the end of the buffet line, he saw the Wookie and the man from the other night, deep in some kind of verbal dispute as they began to put food on their plates.

"Hey, there's-" Luke began, but Leia cut him off immediately through the Force.

'Don't say anything to dad,' Leia said quickly. 'I get the feeling they know something about him and don't want us to find out. I'll go talk to the guy later, and figure it out.'

'How do you know it's safe, Leia?' Luke asked, protective of his sister. 'I don't want you talking to him alone.'

'Oh come on Luke, just give me your light saber, I'll be fine,' Leia said firmly. 'What, are _you_ going to go flirt with him to get information? I'm going, that's final.'

Luke nodded reluctantly, knowing that she was right.

"There's what?" Anakin asked aloud, nonchalantly, not realizing the serious discussion going on between the twins inside their heads.  
Luke suddenly realized he had just cut off mid sentence. "There's um…more cake at the buffet, I'll be right back! Hey Leia, want to, uh, come help me get it?"

"Sure," Leia said overenthusiastically as she and Luke awkwardly got up and headed away from the table.

"Do you think dad and Obi Wan knew he would be on this ship?" Leia asked excitedly, suddenly very interested in this mission and glad she was along.

"Not a chance, they obviously worry about us talking to him, I think this is probably a coincidence- a really unfortunate one for them, but a great one for us," Luke answered, as they both surreptitiously watched the man and his Wookie friend, now sitting at a table, still squabbling animatedly. "But I do think we're on this transport for a reason- I think that maybe some of the smugglers they've been watching are on board…"

"I get that feeling too," Leia agreed, looking around her. "Like there's more to this mission than we know."

Suddenly, Luke knocked into the plate of a strange looking creature, shorter than the humans but very menacing in appearance. It began to curse at them in a very strange language, one that neither had heard before, and it sounded very angry.

"Luke, what's he saying?" Leia asked, actually quite worried.

"I don't know, I don't recognize any of it, it must be some obscure language from the outer rim," Luke answered quickly, looking around him for a way out of this mess that didn't require his light saber- after all, he couldn't blow the cover of his entire family. "And yet, it's strangely familiar."

Suddenly, they noticed the creature's hand reach for a blaster, which he quickly had pointed directly at Luke.

'Luke be careful,' Leia warned worriedly through the Force. 'What are we supposed to do, you can't use you're light saber it would break the whole cover!'

'I think he wants an apology,' Luke suggested worriedly. 'But I can't understand his language…or why this would cause him to draw his blaster…'

'Luke I'm worried, try to suggest he back off through the Force,' Leia urged worriedly.

'If we can't speak his language, that won't help,' Luke reminded her, looking around to try to figure out what he could do.

Across the room, Anakin noticed his twins in this difficult situation, and stood up to go investigate, Obi Wan right on his tail.

"Somehow, this language sounds familiar," Luke commented, trying to act as passive as possible in front of the agitated creature. "And yet its so strange, nothing I an remotely identify."

"I know what you mean, I feel like I've heard it somewhere before," Leia commented, trying to motion to the creature that she didn't understand. "But I definitely don't know anyone who speaks it…

Suddenly, a voice from behind them spoke in the creature's language, apparently suggesting it leave the twins alone. The creature looked up menacingly, but suddenly Luke and Leia saw a change on the creatures face, to one of fear. They also somehow felt the Force suggesting the creature to leave, and looked at each other incredulously- was there another Jedi on the ship? Who could speak that language and use the Force? As the creature backed away, Luke and Leia sighed in relief, and then turned to thank whomever it was that had helped them. Looking up, Luke and Leia saw, to their astonishment, their father standing behind them still encouraging the creature to leave them alone.

"Or, dad speaks it," Leia said quietly, as Luke looked at her incredulously, both of them shocked by the situation. "I didn't even know he spoke anything other than basic and whatever he learned as a youngling at the temple- they definitely don't teach this there…"

Finally, the creature threw up its hands and walked away to refill its plate. They turned to Anakin and noticed that Obi Wan was watching him worriedly from the side, as if he had come to try to stop him from interfering but arrived to late.

"Dad, what were you…what…what language was that?" Luke asked finally, as he and Leia stared at their father.

"Huttese," Anakin answered honestly, looking away from them, with a look of what Luke and Leia could only interpret as sadness, though they didn't understand why.

"How could you possibly know that language?" Leia asked in disbelief. "I thought the Hutts kept it to themselves, they… they only teach it to their own species and their slaves and smugglers- they don't want politicians and Jedi to know it too well, because this way they can have more private conversations and transcripts among them, which helps to keep their smuggling and illegal slavery going," she recited expertly.

"Sometimes I wish you weren't so much like your mother," Anakin commented fondly but quietly, staring past his daughter. "You're too smart."

"Dad," Leia said seriously. "Don't change the subject. Just tell us, please, how you know Huttese."

"Look, I…" Anakin began, unable to lie again but fully aware that this wasn't the right time or place to tell them. "I'll explain later, I promise. For now just… try to stay out of trouble ok? This isn't the safest voyage to make, even now. The Outer Rim is different from what you know, and even when you've been there before, you've only observed as Jedi. Being among the smugglers and bounty hunters is another story, and I want you to be very careful. Most importantly, don't pick fights, ok?"

"Um, sure," Luke said as he and Leia nodded, looking at each other confusedly.

"Good," Anakin said firmly, and then he walked over to Obi Wan and the two Jedi Masters began conversing very quietly and seriously with one another.


	9. Chapter 8

**hi!** so sorry its been forever, ive been away and very busy. hope you enjoy, i hope some people are still reading, im still having fun writing!

**Ch. 8**

"Anakin you shouldn't have done that," Obi Wan said quietly as Anakin walked over to him. "That only resulted in your children being suspicious of you, not to mention anyone else who might have heard you, I've-"

"I had to help them," Anakin interrupted stubbornly. "They're both too smart to have blown our cover by revealing themselves as Jedi, and there was no other way to handle the situation- they didn't know what he was saying."

"Anakin I've warned you against ever speaking Huttese anywhere but Tatooine," Obi Wan continued to advise. "Not many people speak it- the fact that you do immediately draws attention to us. I know you want to tell Luke and Leia the truth soon, and by the way you had better get to it before they find flawed information somewhere else…but think about everyone else who heard you- people _will_ begin to recognize you."

"I've used that language my whole life Obi Wan," Anakin continued to defend himself. "And I've never had anyone question me."

"You've never used it anywhere but your own planet," Obi Wan reminded him, and Anakin nodded reluctantly. "Just be cautious, please."

"I will," Anakin agreed. "And I will tell Luke and Leia the truth, very soon…what?" he asked as Obi Wan began to laugh.

"This just… reminded me of when you were my Padawan," Obi Wan smiled fondly. "Like you were still a teenager I was teaching."

"Then you remembered how old you are?" Anakin teased provocatively.

"No, actually, I remembered how you now have six children," Obi Wan shot back. "How that ever happened I really will never understand."

"Well if I have to explain it to you-" Anakin joked.

"First of all, I'm the one who had to explain it to you, although I'm starting to wish I never had," Obi Wan laughed. "But my question is more how you got a beautiful woman, not to mention a very regal one, to want to illegally marry you and then have six children with you when you were still that distracted, awkward boy I brought up."

"Yeah, distracted and awkward, it's the Skywalker way," Anakin smiled proudly as they watched Bail bump into some pretty girls in the restaurant and mumble awkwardly, staring at the floor and cursing himself.

"And strangely, it manages to work," Obi Wan sighed, shaking his head without comprehension, as the girls turned and giggled to each other, watching interestedly as Bail bumbled away to join the Jedi Masters, still staring at the floor and frowning.

"Of course it does," Anakin said defensively. "It's quite charming, plus, I started it…and you kind of get over it, as you grow up."

"Oh, well I can't wait for that to happen with you," Obi Wan laughed, as Anakin hit him fairly forcefully in the arm.

"Ow!" Obi Wan exclaimed angrily as Luke and Leia walked up to them, trying to pretend they weren't at all curious as to why their father spoke Huttese.

"We're going to go to explore the rest of the ship," Leia said nonchalantly. "I think there's a night club or something, we'll see you later."  
"Wait a minute," Anakin said sternly. "I don't like that idea, not everyone on board is trustworthy."

"Dad, relax," Luke argued. "We'll be fine, we'll just try to avoid bumping into people who don't speak basic," he joked.

Anakin was not amused, but realized there wasn't much he could do to keep them from going. "Just be careful, please. You know its not easy for me to accept the fact that you two are all grown up."

"Oh dad, you're so cute when you get all sentimental," Leia assured him, giving him a hug as she and Luke turned to go.

"Wait!" Taryn said quickly, hurrying up to them. "Can I come with you?"

"You," Obi Wan said, turning to his Padawan, "have to go practice meditation exercises, we've missed almost four days of training so you're going to have to work hard to catch up."

"Oh, come on Master you're the one who left her," Luke argued for his little sister. "Off gallivanting with the wife and all."

"Let her come with us," Leia contributed, pulling Taryn towards her protectively as Obi Wan looked at the ground awkwardly.

"No!" Anakin shouted firmly just as it looked like Obi Wan might relent. "She has to do meditation, it's very, very, important, I know how many hours of training it requires, very important to practice, as I learned in my grueling days as a Padawan, very many hours."

Everyone turned to look at Anakin, and then burst out laughing. After a moment, Obi Wan looked sternly at the kids.

"Ok, it's all right for me to make fun of him, but, it is unfortunately my duty to tell all of you not to laugh at a Jedi Master, after all even though we all know he never practiced meditation he did manage to be a very powerful Jedi and he is far your superior and so I must tell you all to treat him with respect…well actually not Leia, since she left the order, Leia you can laugh," Obi Wan smiled. "Plus, as his best friend, I will defensively say, don't laugh at your father."

"But you're allowed to," Anakin grumbled.

"Always!" Obi Wan responded, smiling exaggeratedly at Anakin.

"You just don't want her to come with us, dad," Leia provoked her father, smiling sweetly at him.

"That's right!" Anakin nodded fervently. "When you were her age I wouldn't have let you go out at night with people four years older than you, I don't care if you are her siblings. You didn't do things like that when you were my Padawan."

"Oh come on, dad," Luke laughed. "When Leia was your Padawan she snuck off all the time, you just didn't _know_about it."

Leia glared at Luke angrily- she had hoped her father would remain blissfully ignorant of what she and Luke had pulled off when they were Padawans- her especially because of how much more protective Anakin was of his daughters than of his sons. Anakin gave her such a confused look, obviously full of hope that she would deny what Luke had just said, that she (and Luke and Obi Wan and Taryn) almost burst out laughing again.

"Dad, just let her come with us," was all Leia said. "We'll take very good care of her, don't worry- what else does she have to do around here?"  
"Fine," Anakin pouted, eyeing them warily. "But be careful."  
"We will, for the last time!" Luke groaned in aggravation as he, Leia and Taryn walked off.

"What do you think Leia did as my Padawan?" Anakin asked Obi Wan confusedly. "What does he mean she snuck off? Did she sneak of with boys? To clubs? What does that mean?"

"I don't know, Anakin," Obi Wan smiled amusedly, putting his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Don't worry," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"You know, don't you," Anakin pronounced angrily, noticing Obi Wan's amused grin. "You know what's happened, and you don't tell me."

"I don't know any more than you do," Obi Wan assured him, though he was still smiling amusedly. "I just think you need to realize that Leia's an adult, and she can do what she wants to. Force sake, Anakin, you were the one sneaking off to sleep with your illegal wife as my Padawan."

"Ok that's not reassuring," Anakin continued worriedly. "She shares my genes, she might do something that crazy."

"Why would she, it's legal now," Obi Wan laughed, entertained by the once so reckless Anakin Skywalker now acting as the overly protective father. "If she wanted ot get married, she'd just tell us."

"Get married?" Anakin screamed, causing several people to turn and look at him. "She's far too young for that."

"Anakin you were younger than she is now when you married Padme," Obi Wan reminded him.

"That was different," Anakin argued. "It was…we almost died!" he said loudly after finding no better argument.

"Sith, how many other secret wives do you have Anakin," Obi wan laughed. "If you get married every time you almost die?"

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny," Anakin grumbled, not at all amused. "Do you think Leia has a boyfriend or something she's not telling us about? Is she secretly crazier than Luke and doesn't tell us?"

"I think it's you that needs to go practice meditation," Obi Wan mused as Anakin continued to shoot worried questions at him. "Or, we go to the bar and get a drink."

"What about Bail?" Anakin asked, watching his twelve year old devour a third helping of desert.

"Tell _him_ to go meditate," Obi Wan advised. "You're his Master."

……………………………………………………………………………

Leia, Luke, and Taryn walked into a nightclub down on one of the lower floors of the transport ship. As they sat down at a booth, all of them eyed their surroundings, ever wary Jedi absorbing the scene in front of them. The twins had tried to explain the situation to Taryn as well as they could without telling her everything- they knew there were parts of what they had witnessed that Anakin would like kept between them, such as the revelation that he spoke Huttese. But they had explained that they were trying to find a man that would give them some clues about a past their father was keeping from them- and Taryn was very intrigued about how it would all play out.

A waitress came to their table, and Leia and Luke turned to her, realizing that they should order drinks to not seem suspicious. Luke ordered three, much to Leia's frustration.

"I don't feel comfortable getting her a drink," Leia argued as Luke smiled. "She's never had one before, she doesn't know how to handle it."

"Oh come on, you've got to start somewhere!" Luke exclaimed, and Leia gave him a very angry look. "Don't worry, I will only let her have one," he assured Leia, winking at Taryn. "Plus, we have to make her seem old enough to be in here, don't we."

"There are plenty of reasons people _don't_drink," Leia argued fervently. "I know _you_ can't think of any, but some people are perfectly comfortable with themselves without alcohol."

"Come on Leia, let her have some fun, what's happened to you lately?"

"Nothing, I just don't want to corrupt my little sister," Leia muttered, eyeing Taryn protectively.

"Leia don't worry, I'll be fine," Taryn assured her sister.

"Yeah that's what Luke usually says," Leia sighed, rolling her eyes. "Just please be careful."

"You sound like dad," Luke commented, causing Leia to glare at him.

"I'm sorry that I'm a careful person," Leia retorted, nervously watching as the waitress brought over their drinks.

"There he is!" Luke exclaimed, pointing in front of him. The man and the Wookie had just sat down at the bar across from them.

"All right, I'm going to go talk to him," Leia said quickly. "And stop pointing. And _don't_let her have another."

"Ok, calm down Leia, stop giving us orders," Luke rolled his eyes. "Just go, and I'll be watching the whole time in case anything happens."

As Leia walked away, Luke turned to Taryn, smiling at her amusedly. "And now your first lesson from your over-protective big sister on how to pick up guys. Just watch, and remember how proud and reserved Leia _claims_ to be."

"Is she really that much of a flirt?" Taryn asked incredulously- normally Leia really was quite refined and reserved, and Taryn just couldn't see her older sister letting herself be picked up by all the guys Luke was always talking about, much less pursuing them.

"Only when she wants to be," Luke continued as they watched Leia approach Han. "She can have a guy all over her before you even notice she's said anything. But don't get me wrong- she's in control the whole time."

"I know she's not the perfect angel dad makes her out to be," Taryn laughed. "I mean, she tells me just as much, if not more, than she tells you, I just-"

"I doubt that's true," Luke argued. "I don't think she quite tells you everything."

"You don't know," Taryn retorted. "There are some things you tell sisters that you don't tell brothers, ok?"

"I think I know her better," Luke continued to argue. "I'm her twin."

"Well we'll just have to ask her, won't we," Taryn contended hotly. "I wasn't trying to make an argument out of this, I was just trying to say its hard to imagine Leia being all flirtatious."

"Well you're about to see it," Luke laughed with his sister, both of them forgetting the argument for the time being. "Just watch."


	10. Chapter 9

**Ch. 9**

"Elsé, Zeke, it's time for bed," Padme called, yawning tiredly as she searched for her youngest children in their now huge seeming house. She had no idea why she was tired; this day had been the most low-key in the Skywalker household for years. With everyone gone, her normally packed schedule had actually given her some time to relax today, even to be bored. However, she had been working a lot lately- even though she was no longer actively a part of politics, she still did a lot of work unofficially for the current chancellor and many senators. She had been one of the most celebrated politicians of all time, and so the current administrations often sought her out for help and advice. In fact, she had a lot of work to do tonight- the chancellor had just sent her several data pads of information to look over about the upcoming elections. Of course, she didn't actually have to do any of this, but she found it impossible to sit back and not be involved, she was so absorbed in politics, and quite a workaholic. Where was Anakin to do something ridiculous to make her laugh and calm her down when she needed him? And where were Zeke and Elsé, she couldn't find them anywhere.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of light sabers nearby, a sign that Zeke and Elsé were sparring in the house, breaking a strict rule of the family.

Angrily, Padme rounded the corner and found that her speculation was correct.

"Zeke! Elsé! No sparring in the house!" She yelled angrily, putting her hands on her hips as she rounded the corner.

"But mommy we need to practice!" Elsé complained, as she and Zeke pouted.

"That's what we have balconies for," Padme reminded them. "Or what about while you're at the temple?"

"We have to practice at home! And daddy's not here to take us somewhere to practice," Zeke informed his mother defensively.

"Well like I said, why not on one of the balconies?" Padme asked, though she didn't really care at the moment.

"Did we at least look good?" Elsé asked hopefully, looking sweetly up at her mother.

"Yes, but you need to be more relaxed, both of you. Instead of worrying about where your opponent will strike you, relax and let the Force tell you," Padme explained. After years of living with seven Jedi, she found herself randomly able to give advice to her children. She would notice things she wasn't even aware she knew, and comment on them.

"How do you know, mommy?" Zeke asked, looking at her curiously.

"Because I've lived with your father for twenty years," Padme explained, shaking her head in amusement. "And all the rest of you. Now, it's time for bed."

"All right," they sighed, turning to walk towards their bedrooms.

"I love you both," Padme said lovingly, pulling them back to kiss them.

"I love you too mommy!" Zeke said loudly, smiling as his mother kissed his cheek.

"Me too! Me too!" Elsé cried, not wanting to be outdone by her brother. "Me the most!"

"No, not you the most," Zeke argued, pushing her.

"Hey!" Elsé pouted, pushing Zeke back. Suddenly, the two stared at one another angrily, not making a sound. Padme was soon able to realize, because she had lived with seven Jedi for so long, that they were in some kind of Force battle, trying to push one another over.

"Stop it!" Padme yelled, trying to pull them apart unsuccessfully. It was moments like these that she noticed two things: one, how sad it was that her six year old could probably defend herself better than she could, and two, that their family was not at all normal. "Stop, no Force manipulating, I'm not even sure you're allowed to be doing that."

"You don't know," Zeke reminded her, still staring at Elsé.

Sighing, Padme nodded, knowing he was right. She didn't know what they were allowed to and weren't allowed to do outside of the temple, and it was at times like these where she really needed Anakin to discipline them. "Well it's not very respectful of you to manipulate me like that," she said, hoping they would feel guilty enough about it, especially since this had started as a battle over who loved her more, to stop.

"Sorry mommy," Zeke said finally, breaking his concentrated stare at Elsé.

Stumbling backwards and shaking her head, Elsé echoed him. "Sorry, we didn't mean to."

"Ok, why don't you each give me your light sabers and go to bed, without touching one another this time," Padme instructed, not wanting them to start another pushing match. Then she realized how stupid that last instruction was, because they could just Force push each other without actually touching. Oh, this family was so difficult. "And no Force touching either."

"You don't _touch_ people with it," Zeke said, rolling his eyes as Elsé giggled.

"Ok, whatever," Padme sighed, almost laughing despite herself. "No Force anything. Just go to bed, because you have to wake up early tomorrow."

"Ok goodnight mom," Zeke said, as he and Elsé handed their light sabers to Padme and started to walk off to bed. "And I love you most!" He yelled just as Elsé had walked out of the room, causing her to come running and tackle him. As the wrestled their way down the hallway, Padme laughed and just decided they would work it out for themselves. As soon as she saw them stand up and start to actually walk to bed, she turned to go to her and Anakin's bedroom and begin to tackle some of the work she had to do before her meetings tomorrow with the Chancellor and his administration.

Padme picked up one of the data pads and began to study it distractedly. However, she soon found she was in no mood to focus at all. Laughing at herself, she realized that back when she was Queen this is the kind of time she would have had one of her handmaidens read it for her, and tell her what it said. She really was too spoiled back then, she mused. Oh well, that's what she had been told to do. She wouldn't ever tell Leia that though- it wouldn't be a good example to set. Instead, she would focus on her years as Senator and Chancellor, when she had worked extremely hard to bring peace to the Republic.

Smiling, she thought fondly, about Leia and the children, and Anakin and Obi Wan, and how much she missed them. They had only been gone for a day, she thought stupidly, but dinner had seemed very lonely with just her and the two young children. It had been so long since so many members of the family had been gone at one time, and, though she felt silly being worrying, she couldn't help but have a nagging feeling in the back of her head like always got when someone she loved was far away from her, in any amount of danger, however small. She knew herself of twenty years ago would probably laugh at the current situation, for she knew that compared to waiting months for Anakin's return from the battlefield, especially during the months she was pregnant, this situation was easy. They were on a mission and would be back safely…she hoped.

There was always risk- they were, after all, warriors. As much as the Council (especially Mace) tried to claim they were simple 'keeprs of the peace,' they faced battles constantly, whether during wars or just crime on Coruscant. She knew they truly were keepers of the peace, but they fought, and so she felt as if they were warriors. Every child she had sent to the temple she couldn't help but feel a tiny amount of regret, sending small children to be trained for battles and dangerous situations. And yet, she knew they were all happy, and that they would be so restless without that life that they would be miserable. Plus, she couldn't deny Anakin the extreme pride he had in teaching and training his children, of having them look up to him and want to be like him…and she enjoyed this, too. She loved to see how they watched their father when he was fighting, or flying. And she knew the shared experiences of Jedi training bonded them to one another as well- one of her favorite things about her children was how close they all were to each other, how they all looked out for one another, and truly appreciated the family. The whole family loved adventure, living on the edge, and she did realize that this trait was inherited not just from Anakin, but from her as well. As she watched her children grow up, she began to understand why her parents had always questioned her career in politics- she now knew the fear they had felt every time they saw her in the news and tabloids, especially when there had been assassination attempts on her.

Also, now that Leia had chosen to pursue politics, Padme also could understand that pride in having a child follow in her footsteps, seeking her help and advice, and looking up to her. She couldn't ever ask Anakin to give that up. Secretly, of course, she hoped that maybe one more of her children might decide to leave the order and pursue politics, she loved so much to help Leia and to share what she had learned throughout her many years of being a politician. She knew the boys were all so much like Anakin there was no chance they would leave the order, but maybe little Elsé, so quiet and reserved, would become an incredible, cunning politician instead of a warrior…although, she mused, Elsé sometimes seemed to share more of Anakin's fierce spirit than anyone, as demonstrated by what she had just witnessed… But, what she realized from all of this thinking was that she knew she could never have given this life up any more than Anakin could have…part of what had brought them together was their desire to be putting themselves at risk to help others.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder about the Jedi lifestyle for her children, as she always had. At least politics was slightly removed from the actual battle scene…well, as long as you weren't being assassinated or kidnapped, which, she mused, did seem to happen to her quite a lot. But having a husband in battle was one thing- scary yes, she had certainly spent hours crying and worrying about him. But she couldn't deny that there was something romantic about having a handsome young Jedi as a husband, worrying about him and greeting him lovingly every time he returned. She admired him so much, and he made her feel so safe when he was near her. But having her children in battle was different, of course she was proud of them, more than anything in the world she was proud of them, but she was beside herself with worry just seeing them sparring or practicing even with each other or with Anakin and Obi Wan. Even that little bout she had just witnessed between Zeke and Elsé had made her slightly nervous. And she had had a taste of what it might be like to see them in a real war, even lose them, when Luke and Leia were kidnapped when they were four. Something about that experience had awoken her and Anakin to the reality of their situation, and they had discussed, after that, giving it all up to go and live a quiet life with their family. But both had known it would never work. They were far too passionate about their work, and that experience had only ignited a fire in both of them to save the galaxy from people like Sidious and those who had helped him.

It was at times like these that she missed being a politician. However, with all the work she did she was essentially as involved as she ever had been, just now it was unofficial and she didn't have to wear the ridiculously uncomfortable clothes. Although, she thought amusedly, she did miss those clothes sometimes, she always felt quite glamorous and important in them…Anyway, she was still often sought out for advice, and she still gave speeches and talks all the time on a plethora of subjects. Plus, now was Leia's turn, and Padme knew she would have to step back so as to neither overshadow nor turn too much attention to her daughter. Of course, the data in front of her was a good example of the fact that she was still highly involved in the political scene…she would have to remember to try to step back more, for Leia's sake.

She sighed, turning her attention to the data pad…as she read it, she couldn't help but have a sliver of pride in thinking that business side of things didn't seem to be running nearly as smoothly as they had when she was Chancellor…but she quickly pushed this to the back of her mind and started focusing her attention on studying these issues. Suddenly, she became aware of an incessant beeping that she hadn't even realized had been bothering her, but she suddenly couldn't stand to hear any more. Looking up confusedly to try to locate the origin of the noise, she noticed it was her holo-monitor blinking to tell her she had an incoming contact…could it be Anakin and the children? Happily, she pushed the button to accept, and sure enough the face of her loving husband appeared on the screen.

"How are you?" Anakin asked, smiling sweetly at her.

"Fine, bored," Padme answered, sighing and rubbing her forehead tiredly. "I'm glad you called."

"I love those," Anakin said, nodding his head towards her, and she looked at him very confused for a second until she realized he was talking about her reading glasses she had had to start wearing.

"I hate them," She retorted, taking them off quickly. "I'm so old."

"You're perfect," Anakin argued, laughing at how Padme, still absolutely beautiful in his eyes and he knew in the eyes of others, was always complaining about feeling old.

"No, you're going to find some new, young woman and leave me for her," Padme sighed, pretending to be actually worried about it. She loved that she could be so sure of his love that they could joke about things like this.

"Mm hmm," he muttered. "Working hard, as always, I see," Anakin commented lovingly, completely disregarding Padme's comment to show her how ridiculous it was, even though he knew she knew that. He wished desperately he could sweep her into his arms right then.

"Not really," Padme mused, smiling at him and leaning her head on her hand. She loved how their conversations were now so casual, about every day matters…that his calls from abroad were no longer rushed, secret meetings in which they would declare their undying love for one another over and over again. Now, this was simply understood, and it felt even better to be able to talk to her husband familiarly, to be reminded of how well they now knew one another, to joke lightly with one another. She loved the fact that she knew the mysterious, powerful, famous, heroic, medichlorian-created Anakin Skywalker better than anyone in the galaxy, and that she could have silly, trivial conversations with him when others might be excited just to say one word to him. It was this familiarity, this understood love and devotion, that they both appreciated so much in their life now, having lived (and enjoyed) the very opposite life before. Now they could be relaxed and enjoy each other at their leisure, and it was wonderful. "I was actually just thinking about you and the children."

"Of course you were," Anakin teased, loving the fact that he could talk to Padme whenever he wanted, that the most beautiful, sought after, successful politician of all time was his wife, and that he still loved her just as much as the first day he had met her. "And of course I was thinking of you, or why would I have called."

"Probably because you wanted me to do something for you," Padme joked, smiling at him.

"The only thing I can think of for you to do for me is something we'd have to be a lot closer to one another to do," Anakin said seductively.

"Dad!" Came a loud voice from behind him. "I'm…right….here!" Bail announced angrily as he came into view.

"Hi Bail," Padme smiled as her son, now much bigger than her and still growing, stared back at her, his hands crossed in front of him. Padme couldn't believe that she had grown up children now…Bail and Taryn and even the youngest kids were hard enough to believe, but the twins…she still saw Luke as the tiny little boy who stared up at her with bright blue eyes, full of innocence. Now, he was this handsome, strong, powerful Jedi, much like his father…and she could hardly believe when he looked back at her now, with that serious, knowing stare, or when she saw him in action as a Jedi, that he was her same little son. She was so proud of him, and Leia too who was now a beautiful, successful woman and whom Padme knew had men practically killing one another over her. To think of her babies in this way was difficult, and yet it made her very proud. It seemed that even in their crazy, dysfunctional lifestyle, she and Anakin had somehow raised wonderful children…with the help of Obi Wan and Sabe, to a fairly large extent…

Ok, this nostalgia needed to end…as did the dispute between her husband and son, who she had half-noticed arguing hotly about something and who were now staring at each other intently, both of their hands twitching next to their light sabers. "Ok, before you kill each other, I'll venture the question of how is the trip going?"

"Fine," Bail said grumpily, turning away from his father.

"It's ok, Padme," came Obi Wan's voice from somewhere she couldn't see. "I won't let them maul each other too badly. It's just you've spoiled the men of your house too much, it seems they can't deal with sharing a room for even one night."  
"Hi Obi Wan," Padme smiled fondly, really happy that they had called. It really cheered her up to hear from them all, especially now that the younger children were in bed and the house felt empty. "They shouldn't be, we share our house with eight people, they should be used to sharing."

"Padme I get lost inside your house every time I'm there," Obi Wan teased them. "It's hardly a tight squeeze for the eight of you. I'm still not convinced the first floor 'fresher and hallway even connect to the rest of the house, it seems a kind of black hole I get trapped in every time, until someone comes and finds me, rolling their eyes and grumbling the whole time of course."

"Well I promise to take you on a detailed tour when you get back," Padme laughed, enjoying very much Obi Wan's dry sense of humor. She and Obi Wan had a very interesting relationship- they both were very fond of joking sarcastically with one another, something that had developed after they had become very close discussing Anakin in some of his most difficult times. They were better friends than she thought Anakin or Sabe seemed to realize- they had been the ones to deal with each other professionally while Anakin was still a Padawan, and then had naturally formed a close bond as Anakin's wife and best friend and mentor. She always really missed Obi Wan, too, when they were all gone.

"As long as its not the same kind of tour you gave me of the Senate building, I'm on board," Obi Wan smiled at her exaggeratedly.

"That was a very interesting tour of the Senate building, I'm sorry you're not refined enough to enjoy that sort of thing," She teased him.

"Ok, now that you're _done_ flirting with my wife," Anakin interjected jokingly, "I'd just like to say, Luke, Leia and Taryn say hello too, they're downstairs."

"And what are they doing downstairs?" Padme asked pointedly, staring at her husband and making him flinch.

"Um, just, exploring and stuff," Anakin mumbled, looking down.

"You're going to have to teach me that one of these days," Obi Wan joked. "How to make Anakin Skywalker flinch and submit to you."  
"Is it safe?" Padme asked Anakin, not responding to Obi Wan's comment but shooting him a smile. "Anakin, why are you so lenient with them…"

"Luke and Leia are-"

"Yes, I understand that they are adults, but our sixteen-year-old is not," Padme shot at him, raising her eyebrow. She wasn't really angry, she understood the kids would want to have at least as much fun as could be had on a boring public passage to Tatooine, but Anakin was known to be the more easily manipulated parent.

"Luke and Leia will take care of her, don't worry," Anakin assured her, looking away again.

"He tried to tell them no," Obi Wan contributed. "He really did, they were quite persuasive."

"Not to mention you," Anakin nudged him. "Aiding and abetting, that's what that is."

Padme smiled, loving this simple banter between them all. She hoped they would be home soon. "Zeke and Elsé were explicit in telling me to say hi to daddy and the others," she smiled. "So hi."

"Give them kisses for me," Anakin smiled. "By the way…Luke has asked to take Zeke as his Padawan. I was hesitant at first, but I think it's a good idea."

"Luke?" Padme asked. "What about you?"

"Bail will never be ready, not even Taryn will be, to pass the trials in time- Zeke needs to be taken now," Anakin informed her. "And Luke is the only one other than Obi Wan or I who…well…understands the Skywalker thing."

"Right," Padme mused. "That…tell me again, why did I get involved with that?"

"Because I'm irresistible," Anakin smiled sickeningly sweetly.

"Sure," Padme sighed, smiling back despite herself. "Well, I'm not the Jedi expert, so I trust you and Obi Wan's decision, of course. I just hope Luke understands what he's getting into. From what I understand, its somewhat like having a child, isn't it?"

"I told him that, but he still wanted to do it," Anakin shrugged, admiring his sons determination, but, like Padme, still questioning if he really was ready for this.

"I just feel like they're a little young to have the responsibility of a child, then again they're older than you were when were married," Padme mused pensively.

"Everyone keeps saying that! Stop reminding me of that! That still doesn't make it an ok idea in my mind for Leia to suddenly declare she's married, or… or pregnant," Anakin exclaimed worriedly.

"Force," Padme looked at him with sudden concern, not wanting to think about her daughter like that any more than Anakin did, though, Leia did share a lot with Padme and they had become quite close as Leia grew up. "I'd prefer not to think about that."

But Anakin didn't even respond, he was so busy worrying and looking around himself, perplexed.

"I think you're going to have to counsel him pretty soon on the fact that Leia might in fact find someone she wants to marry in the near future," Obi Wan advised, and Padme nodded.

"I will," Padme agreed. "Not that I would at all like to think about that either, but I do understand her a little better. Luke as well, but…well none of us are too worried he'll want to settle down any time soon."  
Obi Wan laughed. "No, as his former Master, and thus the most familiar with his Force signature, I can tell you that Luke has one of the most restless minds I've ever seen…although, the most restless ever was the one who wanted to get married at nineteen," Obi Wan pointed at Anakin.

"Hm," was all Padme said, also worried at the prospect of Luke and Leia being so grown up. She herself had been the one that thought Anakin was too young, at first, to get married- she had felt like she was corrupting him, ruining his life, in a way. And yet, of course she would understand if Luke and Leia did find someone, because it was the deep love and connection she shared with Anakin that she couldn't ignore, that eventually told her it was the right decision to be with him, even if it did mean a responsible, respected, refined Senator of the Republic was illegally marrying and completely corrupting a young, innocent though very passionate Jedi Knight. And so if any kind of situation arose with Luke and Leia, she doubted it could be as crazy as her own…and yet, even if it was, she would understand if true love was behind it.

Suddenly, Luke and Taryn walked into the room, both slightly tipsy but not enough for it to be very obvious- although, Padme could tell right away, but she didn't say anything to Anakin because she knew he would freak out. Instead, she and Obi Wan shared an amused glance, and Anakin seemed not to notice.

"Where's Leia?" He asked, suddenly worried.

"She's with this guy," Luke said hesitantly, as he and Taryn shared a look. The irony of the situation immediately struck everyone in the room, except Bail who was busy playing games on his portable holo-screen.

"What?" Anakin suddenly exclaimed quite loudly, after about a minute of silence.

"They're just talking don't worry… at least, they were when we left them…It's a really long story," Luke began, now eyeing Taryn mischievously and turning provocatively towards his parents and Master. "So, do you guys remember at all, this thing that's just, you know, somewhat important from our past, just this little thing- do you have anything, just anything all that you might wish to share with us about Han Solo?"


	11. Chapter 10

**Ok-**here we go, I'm excited for this chapter, this is going to go back and show what Luke, Leia, and Taryn were doing while Padme talked with Anakin and the others…and then… let's just say the truth is going to come out in a really interesting way. Yay!

**Ch. 10**

Leia walked slowly up to the man at the bar, who sat studying a navigation chart with his Wookie friend. As she walked, she studied the two, using the Force to get a sense of their feelings at the moment and of anything else she could pick up on. Something she had observed immediately the last time she had met him was how cocky this guy was…she knew she would have to use that fact somehow to get him talking. She walked up and stood next to them, ordering a drink and waiting for the man to say something to her, all the while worrying about exactly how she would respond.

"Hey, let me get that for you," He said, flipping a coin at the bartender and giving her a swaggering grin. "What's a pretty girl like you doing all alone here?"

Force, this man was really insufferable, Leia though to herself. Still, she needed to do this. Taking a glance back at her siblings, both of whom were using the Force to overhear the conversation and laughing at her, she sighed and turned to the man, still not sure what she was going to say. Suddenly, the answer hit her as she looked down at the chart in front of them.

"Just getting a drink," She answered simply, smiling at him. "Why?"

"I'm just not sure it's completely safe around here, that's all," he said, with what sounded like honest concern in his voice. Leia really couldn't figure him out, he seemed so much like a scoundrel, and yet at times he seemed almost gentlemanly. She decided to simply continue with her plan, disregarding his last comment.

"Hey, what's that?" She asked stupidly, pretending to have no idea what a navigation chart looked like. In fact, Leia was an expert at navigation- it was hard to be Anakin Skywalkers Padawan and daughter and not be- and she knew almost as much about navigation and flying as her father, and between she and Luke it was a constant competition. One of her biggest strengths at the temple had been mapping star systems and routes across the galaxy- and in a building full of people who spent at least a couple of hours every day training to do just that, it was difficult to stand out as she did. And now she was going to have to sit through an idiotic explanation of this map that would probably be severely flawed. Yes, this was going to be really painful…

"That's a navigation chart of the whole galaxy," Han said proudly, smirking over-confidently as he sat back and stared at her. "And a very good one at that…nothing omitted, it's even got Jedi lookout stations on it. You can't imagine what I had to go through to get it…don't tell anyone, but I'll let you in on a little secret. That there is a perfect copy of the kind they use at the Jedi temple- much more precise than your average map. But I was able to obtain a copy…now, I ain't saying it was easy, but I did it."

Leia had thought she had seen that map before. In fact, she was almost positive that it had been directly stolen from her father, or at least copied from his maps. She could almost feel Luke doubling over in laughter, and sure enough when she glanced backward he and Taryn were laughing out loud, tears in their eyes at her situation. She sighed; they were going to make so much fun of her later, for how stupid she was acting.

"Wow," Leia said unenthusiastically, wanting nothing more than to get her father in here to deal with this man right now. She was starting to doubt their connection to him was anything more than that of any smuggler they encountered as Jedi. "So you're a smuggler then?"

"Woah, woah, now when did I say that?" He asked, looking around himself slightly nervously. "I'm captain of my own ship, thank you very much, and a very good one at that."

Ok, so maybe he was actually smarter than she was giving him credit for. He was suspicious and on his guard, and not just an idiot who was so eager to brag he would share incriminating secrets with anyone. She knew he _was_ a smuggler, that much was obvious to any trained Jedi, though she didn't think he was completely lying- he probably piloted his own ship as well. And he was right, he hadn't actually said he was a smuggler- Leia had just known it automatically because the smugglers for the Hutts were known to need the most precise navigation charts possible- they were experts at avoiding Jedi detection and so his bragging that his map highlighted Jedi outposts had immediately informed her of his occupation. She hadn't even considered that the average person wouldn't realize this- suddenly, she realized he had actually forced her to compromise her own position, and not the other way around. Maybe this man was a _lot_ smarter than she gave him credit for. He hadn't said anything that could actually incriminate himself- it wasn't technically illegal to have copies of the Jedi maps, it was more the process of obtaining these maps (which he had not mentioned) that was generally quite illegal. And now she had revealed that she had at least some knowledge of the Jedi system of criminal profiling.

She looked up at him again, and noticed that he was suddenly staring at her with his brow furrowed, an expression of recognition on his face. And this was the kind of recognition she could immediately tell was going to lead to 'Leia Skywalker' and not 'random girl from party last weekend.' She had to say something, fast. As she thought, however, she felt the Force ripple and noticed the recognition melt off his face, and suddenly he went back to sipping his drink. She knew immediately that Luke had done something, and turned towards him again, silently thanking him. Luke just laughed and smiled at her unassumingly, so as not to raise suspicion. Suddenly she realized that this past year, the first she had ever spent not training as a Jedi, her brother had learned a _lot_ more about the Force.

"You didn't say anything, I was just guessing, you sound like one of those smugglers on the Holo-dramas," she mumbled, smiling absent-mindedly as if thinking about the attractive actors on those shows. That was good, now he would _never_ suspect who she really was. Behind her she felt Luke actually in pain from laughing so hard.

"Is that who girls are going for now?" Han laughed, nudging his Wookie friend who made a low roaring sound. "Interesting, it used to be that girls liked the good guys- what happened to the days of being in love with Anakin Skywalker and all them?"

Leia almost choked on her drink hearing that; behind her, Taryn and Luke were beside themselves with laughter, and Luke was in the process of ordering more drinks. Leia sighed, maintaining her cover and smiling at the man. "Yeah, he's cute too," she said. Yuck, she thought to herself, shaking her head in momentary nausea. "But I like the scoundrels better," she said somewhat seductively, causing Han to stare at her with his mouth half open for about a minute before he could say anything.

Across the room, Luke turned to his little sister. "See?" he said, smiling and rolling his eyes at his twin. "I told you, when she really wants to, men are like putty in her hands."

"But she was acting so stupid before," Taryn commented, confused.

"She was just trying to get a fell for the situation," Luke said as if it were obvious. "Just then, that was the first time she actually was trying at all…and now, does he or does he not suddenly want to do anything she asks him to, just so he can be around her?"

"So anyway, you want me to show you this chart, or, or something, or, can I get you another drink or…" Han mumbled, right on cue, as Luke gestured towards him to demonstrate the phenomenon to Taryn. Han's over-confidence was dwindling, as he now nervously stared at Leia, unable to look away.  
Leia couldn't make up her mind about him- he was obviously a scoundrel and quite obviously a smuggler, and his ego was clearly inflated…and yet, he seemed to have a polite and respectful side that emerged at times. And now he was all cute and nervous- his conceitedness was obviously not infallible. She wanted to hate him and to like him at the same time. When he smiled at her with that stupid, cocky grin of his she shifted from wanting to smack it right off his face to wanting to smile back sweetly and flirt with him as herself, and not as this ridiculous character she had made herself out to be. Plus, he was really attractive…too bad he seemed to know that all too well about himself.

"Sure, show me the chart," she said, in an unexpressive voice.

And so Han began to 'teach' her how to read the navigation chart. Every five seconds, she wanted to correct him about something, but she had to bite her tongue and nod idiotically, pretending he was enlightening her with his lesson. Leia almost cringed every time that Han overconfidently told her something was "very complicated" and then proceeded to explain it in a way that made very little sense. However- he did seem to know what he was talking about, in fact he knew more than she had assumed he would. She concluded that this man was, in reality, probably a quite good pilot, a fact that caused her to wonder even more about why he had chosen to live life as a smuggler instead of becoming a professional pilot or something along those lines. In time, she tuned herself out of what he was saying, and just watched him as he talked animatedly. He was very passionate about it, that was certain. She found herself liking this man more and more, while at the same time hating how much he was obviously enjoying sharing his 'very complicated' knowledge with this poor, ignorant girl he took her to be. If he ever did find out who she really was- and she had a feeling this façade couldn't last long- it was going to be pretty embarrassing to explain this all to him.

"And that's it, I guess," he finished, furrowing his brow as he gazed over the map to see if there was more he should explain to her. "For a basic lesson, at least."

"Thank you," Leia said politely, smiling in a more refined way than she had been speaking, a way more like her real self.

Han looked at her quizzically. "You're smarter than you're pretending to be, aren't you?" He asked, giving her half a smile.

Leia looked down, deciding simply to ignore his last comment. "What's your name?" She asked, suddenly realizing that they hadn't even introduced themselves.

Han stared at her for a minute, and she could tell immediately that he was still slightly suspicious of her intentions, and not eager to share his name. However, the look on his face soon changed to a smiling, friendly one as he extended his hand. "Han," he said cordially. "Han Solo."

Upon hearing that name, Leia's mind seemed to surge back sixteen years, and a flood of overwhelming memories surfaced. They were just images, and random scenes that she remembered, but none made any sense to her. She saw herself and Luke on Tatooine, on Kashyyyk, imprisoned… but it almost didn't see real. And she saw this man as a boy, holding them, hanging off of a cliff…ok, she had to be going crazy. These thoughts were out of some far-fetched legend, not real life. It wasn't possible. And yet, she felt her twin's mind reeling as well, full of images similar to hers. Through their Force connection, these surfacing memories passed between them, and they each could see what the other was thinking.

Suddenly, Leia felt very dizzy.

She noticed Han looking at her, concerned, genuinely concerned, and he reached a hand out to put on her shoulder. "Are you ok?" He asked, now looking slightly uncomfortable. He looked up at his Wookie friend with a questioning glance, who shrugged with a low growl.

"Yes, Yes I'm…I'm ok," Leia said, though she now had a bad headache. "I just… I think I need to go walk around for a while, or something."

"I'll come with you," Han said quickly. "You don't seem like you should be walking around alone."

"Thank you," she responded genuinely, as he gave her his hand to get up.

He turned towards his Wookie friend and Leia overheard him whisper, "Listen uh, why don't you stay here." The Wookie nodded, growling, and sat back down.

'Leia,' Luke's voice came suddenly into her head through the Force. 'I'm going to go ask dad about him. Now that I know his name. If anything happens…well, anything that you don't _want_ to happen, contact me right away.'

'You know Luke you're so funny,' Leia responded angrily. 'Ok, go…and Luke… that was so strange, all those images, how can they be real?'

'I don't know,' Luke answered her, just as perplexed. 'But they are. Now be careful, we're _probably_ going to have to report this man to the council later.'

'Of course,' Leia answered- though she really didn't want to have to report him, she would never outwardly show that to Luke, or to anyone else for that matter. And with that, Luke and Taryn got up and stumbled out of the room, still laughing whole-heartedly, no one in the room ever making the connection between them and the young woman at the bar.

"What about you?" Han asked, and Leia stared at him, not understanding. Had she missed something while she was talking to Luke?  
"Excuse me?" She asked, in genuine confusion.

"Your name," Han said off-handedly, as they strolled out of the bar. "I told you mine, normally now you would introduce yourself."

'Sith,' Leia thought to herself. She should have been thinking of a fake name to give the whole time. She couldn't answer honestly, it would blow the cover of her whole family not to mention make her appear extremely stupid. However, Leia wasn't that uncommon of a name… couldn't she just say that and not give her last name? But if he really did know her from the past…that would probably cause him to recognize her, wouldn't it?

Suddenly, the entire ship lurched forward dramatically, causing many people to cry out and causing Leia and Han to fall down onto the hallway floor, Leia right into Han's arms. After a couple of minutes, the ship stopped lurching and was still again- however, Leia could tell that something was still wrong with it.

"Let me go," she said, annoyed, suddenly realizing the man's arms were still around her. He really was presumptuous.

"Woah, woah, don't get excited," he said in that aggravating voice where he pretend to be all calm and cool with the situation.

"Captain being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited," she said hotly, giving him a fierce look and standing up proudly.

"Sorry, princess," he said more contentiously. "We haven't got _time_ for anything else," he said, raising an eyebrow at her provovatively.

(A.N. hehe it's fun to tie in the real movies)

That was just innappropriate, Leia thought to herself. He was far too assuming.

"You're keeping something from me," Han observed astutely. Leia had to give him credit for being able to read her fairly well. "You're acting very differently now than you were."

It was true; she was suddenly acting like herself. "I-"

"What's your name?" He interrupted, staring at her intensely this time, not trying to hide the suspicion on his face.

Suddenly, the ship lurched again, almost as violently as the last time.

"Something's wrong," Leia said, though she realized that was stating the obvious.

"No kidding princess," Han said sarcastically, mocking her.

"Don't mock me," she said fiercely, suddenly very annoyed with him.

"Fine, fine, sorry," he mumbled, holding his hands out as if to calm her down.

Suddenly, the loudspeaker that ran throughout the whole ship began to crackle, and a nervous sounding voice sounded.

"Please don't panic, we are getting the situation under control," said a female voice in basic. "It seems there was a problem with the ships navigation system, and we came out of hyperspace 2 parsecs too early…unfortunately, that landed us right in an asteroid field. Don't worry, we have very able pilots dealing with the situation, and we will soon be back on track, and someone extremely knowledgeable about the mechanics of ships is currently helping to repair the hyper drive."  
Leia knew immediately that her father had broken their cover for this. He and Obi Wan's sense of duty in preserving the lives of these people would immediately trump their need for anonymity on this mission- she was certain they were up their now, her siblings included, piloting and fixing this ship. There was no other reason to explain the announcements confidence that the situation was under control- she knew that the pilots of vessels like this weren't the most talented in the galaxy. Getting a job on a vessel like this was very easy, and usually they had almost no training in high-risk circumstances. Another thing Leia deduced right away was that Han was going to decide that he should go up to the cockpit to help- she knew he felt his knowledge of piloting and mechanics was probably higher than anyone on the ship. He would probably think he could help more than whoever they had dealing with it. And if he decided to go, he would find out right away who she was…she had to talk him out of it.

Suddenly, the ship lurched again, very violently, taking Leia by surprise because she had been certain her father would have a better handle on the situation. She fell again, and this time she fell right into a couple of real scoundrels who had been eyeing her from just across the hallway.

"Hello beautiful," one grumbled, holding a firm grim on her as the other laughed menacingly. "Why don't you stick with us so you don't get hurt."

"Let her go," Han said firmly going over and pushing the one standing over her away. He drew out his blaster and pointed it at the one holding Leia. "You have no business with her, let her go."

"And you're going to shoot me for her, are you?" Barked the one holding Leia.

"If I have to, I will," Han said, narrowing his eyes at him.

"And risk going to jail?"

"If it means helping her, yes," Han said confidently. "Let her go."  
Making one last menacing face at Han, and smirking at Leia, the guy grumblingly let her go. "Relax, man," he said to Han. "We were just playing around." With that, he and his friend walked off, mumbling to one another angrily.

Han held his hand out to Leia and helped her up.  
"Thank you," she said, truly smiling at him for the first time all night.

"I should've just shot 'em," Han mumbled. "It's types like that that ruin this galaxy. Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Leia smiled. "Really."

"I'd better get up there," Han said, just as Leia had predicted. "The ships still lurching, obviously this pilot doesn't have it completely under control. I could help, at least in repairing the hyperdrive. The one on my ship breaks all the time, I'm great at fixing them."

"If it breaks all the time, doesn't that mean you aren't good at fixing them?" Leia mumbled to herself so Han couldn't hear her- normally she probably would have said that out loud, but he had just risked himself to help her, and she truly appreciated it. She now knew for certain that his heart at least was in the right place, whatever random smuggling he might have gotten into. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," she said aloud. "The pilot knows what he's doing, I promise you."

"How can you be sure?" Han asked, his more cocky side taking over again. "I'm pretty sure I know more about this than you do."

'Ha,' Leia thought to herself. 'If only he knew.'

"I just don't think you should go up there, I just really don't," She said, honestly unable to think of a good reason. He obviously did know a good deal about piloting, and in a normal situation he should go up and try to help. But he would make her come with him, he wouldn't want her to wander around alone, and thus her whole cover would be blown with her family up there.

"Come on, we've got to go," Han said firmly, taking her hand and starting to walk away.

"No, I, I," Leia stuttered, staying put and refusing to come, growing more desperate every second to figure out a reason they should stay. "I don't want to, I…"

"I've got to help, don't worry I'll keep you with me, you'll be safe," he said kindly, and Leia realized he thought she was scared. She was touched and offended at the same time. And before she realized it, he was pulling her along behind him as they made their way to the cockpit. The whole time they were walking, she worried about what would happen. In fact, she was worrying way too much- why did she care so much what he thought? Could she actually be developing feelings for this man? She couldn't let that happen- she wasn't the one who should worry about the situation, it was he who should- she was walking in to aid her family of Jedi in saving the ship, she was the one who was supposed to be there. He was a smuggler walking into a trap. And suddenly the real reason she didn't want him going in there dawned on her- she didn't want him caught, and more than that, she didn't want him to know she had been lying to him, and she definitely didn't want to be the one to help in catching him. Oh no- she did like him, she had to get rid of that right away because her father would certainly not approve not to mention the fact that he was a lot older than her and probably they didn't live anywhere near each other, normally she liked nice men, the kind her family would approve of, and they certainly wouldn't approve of him and –Oh!

They were in the cockpit. And just as she had suspected it was one big happy family reunion. Silently, five very familiar faces turned to her, all surprised, relieved, confused, and sad at the same time.

'He hasn't said anything yet,' was the first thing she heard, and it was inside her head. It was Luke.

'What?' Leia shot back, utterly confused.

'The ship lurched right after I asked him who Han Solo was,' Luke explained. 'We rushed up here, he hasn't said anything yet…our cover's blown, by the way, we had to help.'

"Anakin Skywalker," Han mumbled very quietly to her. "If I'd known he was…"

"Thank the Force you're here," Anakin said loudly, directly towards Leia and Han. "I need you to navigate this for me while they repair the hyperdrive and I fly."

Leia felt the immediate sense of confusion in Han- he thought Anakin was talking to him for some strange reason, and was very confused. Closing her eyes for a minute, she felt almost sick as she stepped forwards towards her father. Han stared at her incredulously, and she felt anger surging into him- he understood she had been lying, and he thought it was to catch him as a smuggler.

'No,' Leia thought to herself, knowing he wouldn't be able to hear her through the Force. 'No Han, that's not it…'

"You…" He said, but he was unable to finish his sentence. You…what? You know Anakin Skywalker? You know more about maps than I do, why did you pretend? You are obviously someone important…tell me your name? You lied to me? You walked me into a room full of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy?

"I never told you my name," Leia said in an apologetic voice, her eyes full of compassion. She felt truly awful about how she had been pretending to be someone else. "It's Leia."

**hi** if you were one of the first few people to read this chapter, i changed it like six times after i had already posted it, so sorry about that. i just started finding flaws in it.


	12. Chapter 11

**Ch. 11**

"Leia… Leia…" Han mumbled, still in shock. "I knew you looked familiar, I knew, I…"

Leia assumed he only meant she looked familiar because of her family's fame, but Anakin knew that Han was referring to his own memory of Leia as a four-year-old. Leia just looked down, feeling terrible, knowing that Han must be feeling betrayed and angry to have been led in here, straight to Anakin Skywalker- especially because Leia knew that her father wouldn't understand, he wouldn't understand that Han was not really a bad guy….and Leia had let him walk right into this trap.

"It's her eyes…they were always the same, even then," Anakin said suddenly, still staring intensely ahead, out into the asteroid field, trying to navigate the ship out of it. At those words, Leia (and Luke, who had emerged from beneath them where he had been helping to repair the hyper-drive) turned incredulously towards their father and then towards Han, looks of extreme confusion on their faces. Anakin then turned toward Han, ignoring the looks of his children for the time being, with a kind of sad but compassionate smile, one that was extremely surprising to Leia. "Why did you do it Han? Why did you let Jabba seduce you into smuggling again…we would have helped…"

"Dad you can't arrest him, you can't," Leia said suddenly, choosing to ignore for a moment the fact that her father seemed to know this man far better than she could have possibly thought. Han turned towards her with genuine surprise at the fact that she hadn't been trying to incriminate him. Though Leia was hurt that he would think that of her, she understood why, and she was glad that he now understood that she wasn't trying to betray him. "He risked himself to save me."

"How do you know about that?" Anakin asked, turning towards her sharply, full of anger. "What did you tell her?" He asked Han pointedly- he hadn't wanted Leia to find out anything from someone else.

"Um, dad I know because it happened five minutes ago," Leia stated, extremely confused. "Look out!" She yelled, as Anakin directed his attention back to the asteroid field and expertly dodged the ship around two large asteroids.

"Well if you would navigate for me I might not be having this problem," Anakin said, nudging towards the map for Leia to read. Taking a deep breath, Leia began to expertly instruct her father on how to exit the field, reading a map almost identical to the one Han had just 'explained' to her.

"You knew better than me, the whole time…" Han muttered, staring at her and suddenly feeling very stupid.

"Wait… it…what are you talking about?" Anakin asked Leia, suddenly considering his daughter's last words- she wasn't talking about the past, but something that had just happened.

"What are _you_ talking about?" Luke asked, staring at his father. "We need the pliers, by the way," he added, as Anakin absent-mindedly handed him a toolbox and Luke, giving one last confused glance around the room, popped back down into the hyper-drive control room.

"I didn't tell her anything," Han said firmly to Anakin, a little bit insulted. "I didn't even recognize her."

"Oh," Anakin said passively, as he suddenly veered the ship strongly to the right. "I see…"

"How do they not know?" Han asked, staring at Anakin.

"How do we not know what?" Leia asked angrily, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We let them forget, that's all," Anakin explained, eyeing Leia nervously. "It was a lot to take for little kids, why should they live with that memory."

"I guess…" Han mumbled. "Watch out!" Again Anakin veered the ship around, grumbling about how big and awkward it was.

"I miss my starfighter," Anakin complained.

"You should see my ship, fastest in the galaxy I guarantee it," Han boasted proudly.

"I doubt it," Anakin said, ever competitive. "I've made some…adjustments to my starfighter that make it a little better than the normal ones."

"I bet you a hundred credits I can outrun you," Han said over-confidently.

"Fine, I take that bet," Anakin agreed unexpectedly. "As soon as we're off this hunk of junk, you come straight to Coruscant."

"And how do I know you aren't going to arrest me," Han challenged contentiously. "How do I know that wasn't the plan, the whole time?" He asked, staring at Leia, even though she felt she had just proven her genuine will to defend him.

"Han, I never, that was never-"

"You know I promised you long ago that I would keep you out of trouble," Anakin said quietly to Han, though Leia overheard even as she was trying to speak.

"Why, what is going on here?" She demanded again, as another small asteroid hit the ship.

"Sith!" Anakin shouted, continuing to curse under his breath. "I hate this thing."

"Dad, tell me," Leia insisted. "This has been going on long enough."

"Han saved your and Luke's lives when you were four," Anakin said simply, not wanting to explain it all right there. "You were-"

"Dad!" Bail said, popping up from below. "We need your help down here, the whole thing's jammed."

"Well if you hadn't noticed, Bail, I'm kind of busy trying to fly this piece of junk," Anakin grumbled.

"He's your son too?" Han asked, looking at the twelve year old in front of him. "There's three now?"

"Six," Anakin answered somewhat shyly, as Han looked at him in disbelief.

"You've been busy," Han commented amusedly.

"Bail's right, Anakin," Obi Wan said, popping up next to Bail. "Only you can handle something like this, I'll fly."

"Dad, I want you to tell me what's going on!" Leia demanded again, stubbornly. She knew she was being immature in putting her own interests in front of the navigation of the ship, but she was extremely frustrated with the whole situation.

"No offense Master but you'll hate this," Anakin commented, smiling fondly at Obi Wan and ignoring Leia for the time being. Then he turned to his daughter, his eyes stern. "Leia I know you haven't been out of the Order long enough to forget that we put the interests of innocent people in front of our own personal problems. Now please come help me with the hyper-drive and let it go, just for now."

"Sorry," Leia mumbled. She knew he was right, but still- this was getting ridiculous.

"Dad I don't think she's out of line here," Luke backed her up, eyeing his twin sympathetically. "You're keeping something huge from us."

"Well, do you really want the story stressfully shouted at you down in the control room during a time of crisis in which I can only half-concentrate on what I'm telling you?" Anakin asked, not even trying to hide his annoyance at his children, as they similarly displayed their anger at him.

"Dad, we're Skywalkers," Luke said, smiling somewhat to lighten the mood. "Could a story be shared in our family in any other way?"

"Taryn, come up here with me," Obi Wan instructed, and she climbed quite gracefully out of the control room, a trait somewhat uncharacteristic for a Skywalker.

Leia could tell that Han was staring at her little sister, and gave him a disgusted look. In his defense, Taryn was beautiful and she did look about eighteen, maybe even twenty but Leia couldn't help feeling that she could have predicted Han would react like that upon seeing her innocent looking little sister.

"She's barely sixteen," Leia whispered to Han, hitting him in the side.

"What, I, I wasn't," Han stuttered, his face turning red as Leia rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on, you can help too," she said, pulling his hand so that he would follow her and her father into the control room. When she grabbed his hand, Han smiled tenderly despite himself as Leia pulled him along. As they hopped down into the control room, they found Luke and Bail nervously watching a fuse spark in the corner.

"What are you doing?" Anakin asked quickly, pushing his sons out of the way. "Be careful…how did you do this?"

"Sorry dad," Bail grumbled, but Luke looked angrily at his father.

"It's not our fault," Luke said with classic Skywalker stubbornness. "We weren't even working on that when it happened."  
"Yes, clearly not," Anakin scolded, rolling his eyes, immediately starting to expertly fix the problem. "That's the problem, this is connected to the hyper-drive, it's the first thing you should have checked."

"Oh, I…" Luke mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed.

"It's ok, Obi Wan's the one who should be embarrassed about that," Anakin mumbled as he continued to work on the ship.

"Wow, he's really good," Han said quietly to Leia, who nodded passively, lost in thought about what could possibly be going on.

"Bail, why don't you go up and help Obi Wan," Anakin suggested forcefully, never taking his eyes off of his work.

"But I-"

"It's not a question," Anakin said firmly, and Bail nodded reluctantly and used the Force to hop straight up into the main cockpit. "Now listen to me," Anakin said suddenly, turning towards Luke, Leia, and Han. "I have a lot to explain to you, and I'm going to be fixing this while I tell you, so pay attention. Han normally I would ask you to leave me to explain this to my children alone, but it concerns you too and you actually might be able to help me once I reach the part in which you are involved."

They all nodded, staring at Anakin, intrigued and ready to hear what he had to say; however, Han did smirk at Anakin somewhat contentiously, eliciting a threatening glare from the Jedi Master.

"I sent Bail away because I want you two to find out before everyone else," Anakin explained. "It's a very long story and I'm going to have to start in a place seemingly unrelated to the information you're seeking, but I promise you, it is all related. I never really told you about my own past… see, I wasn't just born an orphan and taken right to the temple... I actually was born on Tatooine, and I lived there with my mother until I was nine…"

"What?" Leia and Luke chorused.

"Why have we never been there, to meet her?" Leia asked, looking tenderly at her father. This story was already strange… no one was ever let into the temple that late, it was impossible…she and Luke knew immediately it had something to do with the reason their father was so special, the reason he was 'The Chosen One.'

"She's dead," Anakin said sadly, and the twins felt an anguish course through the Force as he remembered his mother, one so intense they had never imagined that their father had memory like this buried inside of him. "But that…that comes later. Anyway, when I lived on Tatooine, I was… I was a slave there, so was my mother."

"That's why you know Huttese," Leia said softly, putting her hand softly on her father's shoulder. "Dad, I'm so sorry."

"Yeah…anyway, one day when I was about nine and a half, by some miracle of the Force, your mother's ship malfunctioned and she and her entourage and two Jedi became stranded on Tatooine, looking for parts to repair the ship," Anakin continued to explain.

"Entourage?" Luke asked, looking at Leia in amused disbelief. "Isn't mom only five years older than you?"

"Yes…" Anakin answered, unsure of where they were going with this.

"Why would she have an entourage when she was only fourteen?" Leia asked, spelling it out for her father, smiling sweetly at him for his lack of comprehension of what they meant.

"She was queen of Naboo then," Anakin explained off-handedly, as if it was obvious.

"She was queen at fourteen?" Leia asked in disbelief. "Wow, I'm really behind…"

"That's impossible, I thought no one could get elected that young," Luke insisted, hardly able to believe it.

"Oh you can," Anakin assured them. "It just never happens…only your mother is that good," he said, smiling lovingly as he thought of his wife and how talented she was.

"Now mom seems even more amazing," Leia commented, shaking her head in disbelief. "Anyway, continue."

"Well, she and these two Jedi came up to the shop whose owner I worked for, looking for parts, and I greeted them," Anakin explained. "And I thought she was an angel," he laughed, smiling fondly at his first memory of his wife. He honestly thanked the Force every day that she had become stranded there… he didn't know if he could have possibly continued to live that life- he couldn't imagine surviving without Padme and the Jedi and his beautiful children…

"So that's how she met you when you were nine," Luke commented, and Anakin nodded.

"Anyway, to make a long story short, the Jedi were Qui Gon and Obi Wan, and-"

"Who's Qui Gon?" Leia asked, as she and Luke looked questioningly at their father.

"Qui Gon Jinn, Obi Wan's Master!" Anakin exclaimed frustratedly. "Obi Wan was still a Padawan then, he was maybe a few years older than you are now…I know, I know, you wouldn't believe he was once that young, the way he looks now," Anakin joked.

"I heard that!" Obi Wan yelled from above. "Not funny!"

"I was just making sure you were still alert up there," Anakin shouted back, smiling. "Anyway, that's the first time I met Obi Wan too, and _I'm so incredibly glad I did,_" he stressed the last part loudly, so Obi Wan would hear.

"That doesn't make your previous comment any less offensive!" Obi Wan yelled, and Anakin laughed.

"Anyway, they had to stay with me and my mother for the night, and Qui Gon sensed something about me was special, that I was very strong in the Force, which prompted him to try very hard to somehow get me freed from Watto, the owner of the shop where I worked, so that he could train me. When he took my medichlorian count, it was the highest he'd ever seen, which brings me to the main point of this part of the story…he asked my mother about my past, thinking that perhaps my father had somehow been a Jedi, but what she told him, was…was very hard to believe, and yet somehow, it's true…you see, I have no father, I was… somehow created by the medichlorians, no one can explain it, but it's true…"

"How… how is that possible?" Luke asked, as he and Leia stared at their father, and then at each other, in disbelief. "How could they possibly have created you?"

"It was the prophecy… the prophecy of the Chosen One…" Anakin mumbled, unsure himself of how to explain it.

"So that's why… that's the reason…I always just thought people called you that because you were so talented, I never realized there was a real reason for it," Luke said pensively.

"That's _why_ I'm talented," Anakin informed his children. "I…and you as well, indirectly, have such an uncannily high level of medichlorians, because we were created by them, that we are far more attuned to the Force than others. It's also why… why we are all very susceptible to falling to the dark side, were a Sith to try to seduce us, which, as I have told you, did happen to me, and it is why you and your siblings need to be very careful. Our entire beings, our emotions are far more invested in the Force than those of other Jedi, and so we must work very hard to learn to control them, something that I didn't realize until I nearly fell into the trap, when Sidious tried to turn me."

"Wow," was all Luke could say, as Leia nodded silently. After a minute, Luke spoke again. "Does mom know that?"

"Of course Luke," Leia said quickly. "How could dad let her get pregnant with his children without telling her that she would be giving birth to children indirectly created by the medichlorians?"

"Yes, she knows," Anakin nodded. "Although," he thought sheepishly. "I actually didn't tell her until you guys were four and she was pregnant with Taryn."

"Dad!" Leia exclaimed incredulously, staring at her father in disbelief.

"It's a very difficult thing to tell someone you love, Leia, you must understand that," Anakin said seriously, biting his lip. "I was always afraid that if she found out, she would leave me, that it would make her too uncomfortable to be around me… and I knew that if that happened, I would fall into the darkness that was around me…you must understand, I was the only Jedi who had ever known a parent, who understand the love of a family, but also the only one who understood true hate, the hate of slavery- basically I was the only Jedi who had experienced deep emotion, because I hadn't been trained from birth to control it…and because I was so attuned to the Force, it was extremely dangerous, do you see? And that is what you have to understand now, as adults, because that is what you also have inside of you."

Leia and Luke stared at their father, suddenly understanding so much more about him, about how different his life had truly been from theirs, and feeling so much compassion for what he had been through.

"Dad," Leia said softly, but she couldn't figure out what she really wanted to say. "Wow…" she muttered sweetly, smiling with loving compassion at her father.

Anakin continued his story, telling them absolutely everything- how he had ultimately been won by Qui Gon, how Qui Gon had died and Obi Wan had promised to train him, how he had come to the temple, how the Jedi had always been wary of him, what had happened to his mother and how he had reacted…he even filled them in on more of the story Padme and he had told them the day before, of how they had fallen in love and finally gotten together. A

As they listened, they could hardly believe what they were hearing- they life they had imagined their father had led was so different from the one he was now explaining to them. However, it did make perfect sense to them, and helped to explain a lot of Anakin's characteristics that they had always viewed as somewhat inexplicable, especially how different he was from most other Jedi. And also they understood more about themselves now, about their own past and why their father (and thus, their family) was so much more famous than even the other Jedi greats.

"Now," Anakin said, after Luke and Leia had given him a mixed reaction of love and compassion upon hearing his story, and anger over not being told earlier. "Now we get to your own past, and the actual defeat of the Sith… I know you remember glimpses of this, I can sense your recognition of Han and also, after my story, I know you both suddenly remembered being on Tatooine when you were four, when I actually told you the abridged version of what I just told you…you just forgot. Now think back, can you remember the day we told you that we were having a new baby?"

"Not really, no, not really," Luke and Leia mumbled, both thinking back to try to find their memories of when they were four.

"Well, we went up to fly around Coruscant that day, and we got shot at…"

And Anakin dove into the long explanation of how his twins had been kidnapped by the Sith, how Han had saved them many times over, how they had finally escaped right after Anakin killed Sidious, how Sidious' men had shot at Leia and how she had gotten-

"My scar," Leia said, eyeing the small mark on her arm with sudden wonder. "I always wondered, I could never remember…"

And how Anakin had finally defeated the last Sith back at the Senate building, and how a thermal detonator had gone off, and how they had last seen Han leaving for Corellia with a gift of enough money to keep him and Chewbacca fed for a while, because they could "take care of themselves fine."

And as Anakin talked, floods of memory came back to the twins, and Han interjected random points as well, especially of the moments when Anakin had not been there, and the story of their own past was finally complete.

"I can't believe we forgot all of that," Luke said quietly, as Leia nodded.

"Very small children can block out difficult memories," Anakin said. "And why would your mother and I want to remind you of it? Well," he said, flipping a switch that caused the hyper-drive to start up again. "This thing's done, although… Han, you might wanna stick around for a couple of minutes to make sure it stays running."

"What? Why should I have to stick around down here, why don't you-" but before he could even finish, Anakin had jumped up into the cockpit to check on the progress there. Sure enough, they were safely out of the asteroid field and in seconds were back into hyperspace, now following the correct course.

"You'd better call Padme and tell her we're all right," Obi Wan commented off-handedly.

However, Luke and Anakin stared at each other, and Luke hopped up into the cockpit immediately- they both suddenly realized they had left her still on the holo screen, with no explanation, the second the ship had lurched. She was probably beside herself with worry.

"Oh don't tell me you left her," Obi Wan groaned, rolling his eyes. "Well, we'd better go deal with that."

And so, He, Taryn, Luke, Anakin, and Bail all left the room, leaving Han down in the control room to make sure the hyper-drive kept up. However, Leia stayed with him- she felt she needed to explain herself to him, plus, she really would rather spend time with him, even if he was a scoundrel, than cooped up with her crazy family. Although, she knew that as soon as she got back Luke and Taryn would go crazy teasing her.

"So, if it wasn't a mission to catch smugglers and low-lifes like me," Han said, turning to her. "Why did you lie?"  
"My brother and I recognized you…" Leia said, trying to make this explanation sound at all normal. "We knew you had something to do with our past, we just didn't know what…as you just saw, we didn't remember. So we wanted to get you talking, or something…"

"Why couldn't you just ask me?" Han asked simply, with genuine curiosity.

"Well we're really not supposed to… tell people who we are, all the time," Leia explained, knowing how extremely pretentious this sounded, but it was the truth.

"Well, sorry that I'm not good enough to know the real Leia Skywalker, your worship," Han said defensively, eyeing her in a way that Leia knew meant he was insulted and angry, just as she had thought he would be.

"Well I'm sorry if to protect my family at any time, not to mention here while we're undercover, I have to mask my true identity, ok?" She said, just as hotly.

"Look, I ain't saying you should jeopardize your family, but honestly, you could have just told me who you are," Han argued. Both were so stubborn that they continued to argue, even though neither truly wanted to be in a fight with the other.

"No, I have the right to decide that for myself thank you very much," Leia contested. "No matter who I was, as a woman I'd be careful sharing personal information with scoundrels like you."  
"Hey now, I've saved your life about five times," Han reminded her arrogantly. "What have you done for me, that's what I should be askin'."

"You know, you really are insufferable," Leia said fiercely. Suddenly, the hyper-drive began beeping again. "What's that mean?" She asked, whipping around to try to address the problem.

"Don't worry, its just re-booting," Han said confidently, as he eyed the device.

"Oh," Leia answered, but then she turned to him haughtily. "How can you be so confident, that sounds like something's going wrong to me. I should call my father…"

"Hey," Han said smugly, smiling at her. "Just trust me!"

Leia just eyed him angrily, then turned and tried to pull on a lever connected to the hyper-drive, one that, if broken, would need to be pushed back into place. However, it didn't budge, and she ended up hurting her hand on it. She turned frustratedly around, sucking on the side of her finger where she had hurt it, just as the beeping stopped and the smooth humming of a rebooted and working hyper-drive rang in their ears.

(A.N. here comes a barrage of stuff from the actual movies kind of smushed together… I feel like putting this in here makes their relationship seem more true to how it really is, I hope you agree)

"See? No problem," Han said arrogantly.

"Some day you're going to be wrong and I just hope I'm there to see it," Leia said angrily, still nursing her hurt hand.

"Come here," Han said, kindly but somewhat suggestively, as he took her hand into his. "Come on, admit it, you kind of like me sometimes." (ok that lines a little different b/c they haven't known each other quite as long here)

"Occasionally," Leia conceded, annoyed. "Maybe …when you're not acting like a scoundrel."

"Scoundrel?" Han laughed. "Scoundrel, I like the sound of that."

Han began to massage her hand softly, a smug grin on his face.

"Stop that," Leia argued, although she wasn't sure she was all that angry with him anymore.

"Stop what?" Han asked, not letting go of her hand.

"Stop that, my hands are dirty," Leia argued, ever stubborn, absolutely refusing to let Han win and get what he wanted…even though that might sort of be what she wanted too.

"My hands are dirty to," he said in an extremely annoying, frustrating, very cute and attractive way. "What are you afraid of?"

"Afraid?" Leia wondered, looking down and away from him, suddenly feeling flushed.

"You're trembling," He said softly, moving closer to her as she still stubbornly refused to give in.

"I'm not trembling," Leia argued, beginning to feel much more vulnerable than she ever let herself.

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel," Han said in a low, rumbling voice, drawing her towards him. "There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."

"I happen to like nice men," Leia said to him, in a last effort to stand her ground.

"I'm a nice man," Han mumbled, now very close to her lips.

"No you're not, you're-"

Han interrupted her with a deep kiss, and Leia, though at first hesitant, quickly gave in and let him kiss her. She marveled at what a good kisser he was, and yet hated herself for giving in so easily. It was so unlike her, normally she only let things like this happen when _she_ wanted them too, but now she had let him have his way… and yet, she liked it, and she liked him, despite her best judgment, and it wasn't as if this day or this situation was at all normal to begin with…and so she let him kiss her, down in the control room of the giant transport ship, and she soon forgot that her brother and sister would be waiting to tease her later, that her father would be worrying about her, that there was anyone else in the world but this scoundrel who had saved her life five times but whom she had only _really_ met a few hours ago, and who was now kissing her passionately…and she was enjoying it very much.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hello!** Sorry it's been so long I've been so busy. I hope some of you still are reading. Let me know what you think! Enjoy.

Ch. 12 

"What happened!" Padme asked anxiously as Anakin and Luke breathlessly tried to explain why they had run away suddenly, leaving her to wait worriedly for them to call her back. "I can't believe you, running away like that without even telling me what was going on, I was worried sick."  
Anakin and Luke shared an uncomfortable look- Padme was very angry.

"Sorry," Anakin said very humbly. "But in an emergency, it is our duty to-"

"Oh don't give me that," Padme said hotly. "You could have had the decency to at least explain yourselves."

"We didn't even know-" protested Luke, but Padme just gave them both a look as Taryn, Bail and Obi Wan came running in after them, saw the look on Padme's face, and began to back away again slowly.

"Honestly, Obi Wan, I'd expect this of the rest of them, but you?" She raised an eyebrow at him, as he looked down at the ground nervously. He was stuck, now he would have to say something. However, the mood had seriously lightened.

"In an emergency, it is our duty to-" He began, not having heard Anakin say this two minutes before.

"Yes, thank you, Anakin already informed me of your duties," Padme said sarcastically. "As if I didn't know them as well as all of you…Well, what did happen, is the situation under control?" She asked, suddenly being very political, as if she were still the Chancellor waiting for a report about some important battle.

"Yes, they just needed us to navigate the ship through an asteroid field, something wrong with the hyper drive, but we fixed it," Anakin explained quickly, trying to sound reassuring.

"So you had to break your cover then?" Padme asked quickly, unable, despite her talent as a politician, to hide her excitement that they would have to come home.

"I know I'm irresistible love, but we've only been gone one day," Anakin said proudly. "You may have to learn to live without me for longer than that."

"Oh, it's not that," Padme assured him casually, not even realizing the opportunity she had given Obi Wan to snicker at Anakin. "My parents called earlier and told me they were having some party… I think it's for Sola and Darred, I don't know why, maybe their anniversary or something, and they wanted us all to come. I said I'd come with the little ones but now you can all come. It will be such a great opportunity for the whole family to get together, don't you think?"

"Padme, I'm not sure that we can-" Anakin began, but Padme immediately cut him off.

"It's so beautiful on Naboo this time of year, I can't wait," She said, pretending not to hear Anakin, who nodded in submission.

"You've got to teach me that one of these days, Padme," Obi Wan laughed, as Anakin looked at him in feigned anger. "He can't even argue with you."

"Obi Wan you're coming too, meet us at Varykino as soon as you can," She said firmly. "My parents love to see you and Sabe as well."

"Of course," Obi Wan agreed immediately, this time allowing Anakin to make fun of him.

"So you're all ok, then?" Padme asked, looking around at her children.

"Yes, mom," muttered Taryn, Bail, and Luke.

"Well Anakin, you're three for four, where is she?" Padme asked amusedly, enjoying watching Anakin nervously search his brain for an acceptable answer. She wasn't actually worried about Leia, she knew her daughter was smart and made good decisions, however she did want to know that Anakin at least knew where Leia was. Plus, it was always fun to watch Anakin's look of nervousness when he realized suddenly that he had to explain to her why one of the children was missing.

However, what Padme didn't realize at this moment was that much more was going through Anakin's head at that moment- how would he explain to Padme that Leia was with Han Solo? And that Han had helped them rescue the ship, and that Luke and Leia knew everything now, and that he hadn't arrested Han even though he knew the boy, well, man now, was a smuggler…and that he had left their daughter with Han…and how could he explain all of this with everyone else in the room? But Padme had always liked Han, and she was much more able to accept people's misdemeanors than Anakin, especially when it came to anyone who was around their children. Anakin was the one who constantly shared with Padme his desires to decapitate any man he saw with Leia or Taryn, and it was Padme who would have to calm him down every time. However, just as Anakin had decided he would tell Padme the exact truth, Leia and Han snuck in the door very quietly, holding hands, obviously hoping not to be noticed right away. Had the room not been full of Jedi, they really might not have noticed her at all, but Leia remembered all too soon that no matter how quiet or sneaky she was, when it came to her family everyone immediately could sense her presence. As they all turned to look at her, she looked down sheepishly, for the first time ever, instead of giving them the look that seemed to dare them to ask her anything that she normally reserved for situations like this.

"Well, she's right there," Anakin said, gesturing to her without even looking and smiling sweetly up at Padme's image on the screen.

"How did he-" Han whispered quietly to Leia, who just pointed at her head hoping Han understood that this meant Anakin could sense them through the Force. Han nodded, giving a confused look around the room.

'Leia, your room's next door,' Luke said to her through the Force, teasing her. 'Bad time to get that wrong.'

'Actually, _Luke_,' She shot back at him angrily. 'I was looking for you, honestly you are insufferable.'

"Padme, um," Anakin mumbled, realizing that it would be a shock for her to be first re-introduced to Han when he was with her daughter. "This is…"

"Han, I know," Padme said unexpectedly, looking tenderly at the man she remembered as that rebellious twelve year old who had helped to rescue the twins. "I recognized him, I don't know how but I did…how are you, Han?"

"I'm fine," Han said, trying to be polite. "Um, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm doing well," Padme responded, as everyone in the room looked around awkwardly, not able to think of anything to say. "Well, I'll see you all at Varykino, as soon as you can get there. We're leaving tomorrow morning."

"But Padme, what I was saying before," Anakin said, suddenly adamant about explaining why they couldn't get there. "I honestly don't think we can get there. I want to, I really do you know your family is the only family I've ever known, I love to spend time with them, we just simply can't get there."

"And why is that?" Padme asked, annoyed but sensing the sincerity in Anakin's voice. She knew him well enough to know when he wasn't being honest, and he definitely was sincere right now.

"We don't have our ships," Anakin pointed out, and suddenly everyone looked at each other, realizing he was absolutely correct. They were stuck on this transport until it got to Tatooine. "There's no way to get off before Tatooine."

But, as always, Padme was five steps ahead of them and the only one thinking rationally. "Well if you hadn't forgotten, we do own droids that can fly ships." She meant, of course, that their droids could fly them their starfighters and they could get off the transport at any time, a tool essential to a Jedi and one that had somehow slipped the mind of two of the greatest Jedi Masters of all time.

"Of course," Obi Wan nodded. "I was just going to say-"

"Oh shut up, you didn't think of it either," Anakin cut him off, and Obi Wan shrugged, relenting.

"What about Leia?" Taryn asked, looking back to her sister. "She doesn't have a starfighter anymore."

"I'll send Threepio, in one of our ships," Padme explained, as if it were obvious.

"Actually, uh," Han interjected, with uncharacteristic timidity. "I could take her, I have my ship on board, Chewy and I are headed for Corellia, and Naboo is on the way… we only took this transport halfway to make some repairs on the Falcon, that's my ship, but still be moving…"

"You should come," Padme said suddenly, her motherly instinct kicking in just as it had all those years ago. She still felt as if he was a lonely little boy with no family…and that was partially true. "It would be lovely to have you spending some time with our family, Chewbacca too."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, I mean, um, your parents aren't…expecting…" Anakin mumbled, eyeing Leia still clutching Han's hand and not at all wanting to deal with that when he was supposed to be relaxing on Naboo.

"They would be _more_ than _pleased_," Padme said forcefully, giving Anakin a reproachful look. "Please Han, come just for a couple of days."

Han turned to Leia, trying to gauge whether she thought this was a good idea- he felt very uncomfortable, but the Skywalkers had been very kind to him when he was a boy, and if Leia wanted him to come, well, he wouldn't say no to that…

Leia pondered for quite some time whether having Han there would be a good idea or not- it was definitely going to be awkward, with Luke and Taryn and her siblings but especially with her father, who was not a fan of strange men anywhere near the same age as Leia spending any amount of time around her, even if this one had saved her life several times. And yet, days, maybe a week, alone with the family again, as nice as it would be, having someone to escape them all with for a while would be nice…especially about two days after they arrived when Anakin would, as he always did when they went to Naboo for vacation, decide he was bored and re-instigate the 'Skywalker Games' in which he pitted his children against one another in the name of 'fun' (which meant training and competition and fun for Anakin and Obi Wan), and made them compete in anything he could think of, all the while he and Obi Wan messing with them and trying to get the youngest to win. This had started when Luke and Leia were very small, maybe four or five, and Anakin had grown bored and decided they should 'race' one another around the house, to keep them (and him) occupied. Every time they completed a circle, Anakin would give them some random number as their 'time' and then tell them to try to go faster. He wasn't actually timing them at all, but he found it amusing and also it gave him alone time with Padme for the five or so minutes it took them to run around the estate. However, as the number of children increased, Anakin began to get more serious about these games, and soon a whole series of competitions, which had grown more and more intense each year, had arisen. It did get quite fun, especially when Anakin and Obi Wan got fed up with everyone's shortcomings during 'team' exercises and decided to join in. Soon the entire family, Jedi or not, was running around trying to 'win,' none of them having any idea what they were actually doing while Anakin and Obi Wan tried desperately to maintain order and grew extremely competitive with one another. Finally, one of the Jedi Masters would break first and begin to laugh (not without many minor injuries occurring first, and often not without an all out saber fight between the two which sometimes required Luke to jump in a break it up), and then Anakin would declare that the youngest (now Elsé) had won, and he or she would giggle incessantly as Anakin carried him or her around on his shoulders. Then of course, the next day, he would decide to make it serious again and start actually making them all spar with one another, which made Padme extremely anxious but which the children actually enjoyed because it impressed the rest of the family.

…Yes, Leia would enjoy not only the good excuse to get out of the 'Skywalker Games', but also the time when Han's competitive spirit would kick in and he would inevitably become worse than Anakin and Obi Wan trying to make his team win. This could be fun…and even more strange and eventful than a normal Skywalker vacation…well, 'normal' was never the right word, but anyway…

"You should come," she said quietly, smiling at Han very sweetly as she heard Luke snicker behind her and could sense as if she was staring at him that he was rolling his eyes mocking her.

"So I'll see you all soon then," Padme said cheerily, excited they would all be spending a lot of time together. "Fly safely, Anakin that means you."

"Yes Padme," Anakin said. "I love you."

"I love you too, and all of you," Padme said, looking at all of her children.

"Love you too, bye mom," they all mumbled, as Padme shared one last glance with Leia begging her to tell her everything about Han.

"Ok, well, then…we'll leave tomorrow," Obi Wan announced. "Everyone call your own starfighter, I am not being in charge of this again like that last fiasco."

"That was your own fault Master," Taryn commented slyly, as Anakin laughed, then gave stern look at Taryn and told her to be more respectful. "No offense."

"There was no way for me to have known that the starfighters didn't have enough fuel to get to Geonosis," Obi Wan said defensively.

"Well that's why you instruct the droids to check that," Bail commented sarcastically.

"Hey, respect, please," Anakin said half-heartedly. "He's right though Obi Wan."

"Well that's why you will each check, ok?"

"Wow, I really thought the Jedi were way more strict and professional than this," Han joked, as Leia hit him on the arm, biting her lip.

"We were," Obi Wan nodded. "Until he came along," he said, gesturing towards Anakin.

"All thanks to you Master," Anakin laughed. "All right, everyone go to bed...um, their own bed," He said, looking at Leia and Han and causing a very uncomfortable silence. "Um, tomorrow we'll, we'll go…"

"Well you heard dad Leia," Luke said, enjoying this situation very much. "Go to your _own_ bed, then."

"Ok then," Leia said, smirking at Luke and opening the door and beckoning Taryn to come with her. "Good night then."

As they walked into the hallway, Taryn stood there staring at Leia and Han as if waiting for an explanation.

"Go in the room," Leia instructed her strictly.

"Fine," Taryn said, throwing up her hands. "Whatever."

"Look I'll see you tomorrow," Leia said to Han, who nodded, smiling.

"Meet me in docking bay four," he instructed, and she nodded, smiling at him. "Well, bye then."

"Bye," she said, looking away as he turned to walk away. Then she turned him back around and kissed him one last time. "Good night."


	14. Chapter 13

**Ch. 13**

The next morning, Obi wan stood in docking bay four at the time at which everyone had agreed to meet. However, Obi Wan was alone, waiting for the five Skywalkers, Han, and Chewie to show up so they could all be on their way. He considered just leaving, after all he was the one who had to return to Coruscant, pick up Sabe, and then go meet them all on Naboo (A.N. I know nothing about where the planets are supposed to be in relation to each other), seriously adding to the distance the rest of them had to travel. In fact, Anakin should probably be the one to go get her, it would take about half the time, but Obi Wan wasn't about to leave his beloved wife in Anakin's hands to travel across the galaxy. Not that he didn't trust Anakin to get everywhere safely, he was, after all, considered the best pilot in the galaxy, it was simply a matter of making the journey comfortable and not extremely nerve-wracking for Sabe. Only Skywalkers seemed to actually enjoy flying with other Skywalkers (although he suspected Han might be a match for them); in fact, when she could, even Padme opted to fly herself or ride with someone other than a member of her family. Anyway, he have just left without them but the Skywalkers were not responsible enough to get moving when left to their own devices- as demonstrated by their absence at that time. Having shared a room with Luke, Bail, and Anakin, Obi Wan hadn't expected this to be a problem, but after breakfast they had all dispersed in different directions before Obi Wan even realized it, and the girls hadn't been seen all morning.

Interestingly, the first to arrive was Han, followed closely by Chewbacca, who was lagging behind growling something at a maintenance droid addressing the Falcon.

"Hello," Obi Wan said politely, smiling at Han.

"Hey," Han replied, looking around awkwardly. "Where's everybody?"

"They're…well…I'm actually not entirely sure," Obi Wan laughed. "They're not famous for their punctuality, that's for sure."

"Ah," Han mumbled, walking over to where the Falcon was docked to check on it.

"Is that your ship?" Obi Wan asked, trying to change the subject. "It's…nice…"

"Hey she may not look like much but she's the fastest ship in the galaxy," Han said proudly.

"Is it safe?" Obi Wan asked, just to make doubly sure they could trust him to get Leia and himself safely to Naboo.

"Don't worry," Han said confidently. "I'm an excellent pilot."

"You know, you and Anakin are really similar," Obi Wan commented.

"I doubt it," Han said with a hint of bitter sarcasm in his voice.

"You'd be surprised," Obi Wan commented, sensing that Han's disdain for the Jedi and the Force still remained somewhat, despite what he had learned when he was twelve.

"I don't coast through life on my special powers," Han said indignantly.

"You know we all put our lives on the line every day to maintain order," Obi Wan argued, understanding Han's difficult early life had inspired this resentment, but wanting to quell it for fear of him hurting Leia (or her father, for that matter) in some way by saying the wrong thing. "Our powers are a burden too, almost more than they are a blessing."

"Look I know you guys train hard and all, but still, it's a nice life being a famous Jedi, loved by everyone in the galaxy… I mean come on, right?" Han continued while perusing the Falcon's systems, in a more conversational and less resentful tone that seemed to suggest he still liked them, he just personally had certain problems with their system. "And look at the perks, everyone gets their own ship…"

"Well technically they don't own them," Obi Wan said, wondering how he could even begin to explain the whole thing about 'no possessions' when clearly, now, the Jedi all did own things, ships and houses included, seeing as they now had families and lives outside of the order. "It's complicated. We don't actually…possess anything that has to do with our duties to the order. We're not supposed to have possessions but, with the new code we can have enough to support families and things like that."

"Well it seems like Skywalker sure possesses a lot," Han smirked. The Skywalkers were one of the richest families in the galaxy, and were celebrities in the eyes of everyone else, even if the Jedi didn't see it. "Whether you like it or not, everyone sees that family as rich and famous, you realize that?"

"Well, a lot of that money is actually his wife's," Obi Wan tried to explain, growing increasingly uncomfortable with this conversation.

"Look," Han commented. "I like that family a lot, really, I do, and I appreciated what they tried to do for me but the life they tried to give me was just…it wasn't a normal life, and I didn't feel comfortable with it. Come on now, you can't argue that those kids aren't spoiled."

"You're talking about a family that has sent every child they've had into training to be warriors, to die for the rights of everyone in the galaxy," Obi Wan argued. "They might all be very proud, but that's something genetic, it has nothing to do with what they own, and you're not so humble yourself Solo. And furthermore, if you want anything to do with Leia you'd better forget all of this right away."

"I know," Han admitted. "It's just hard for all of you to understand, we don't come from the same place."

"Actually," Obi Wan said suddenly, finally realizing all he needed to say to change Han's mind about Anakin. "You and Anakin come from exactly the same place. Anakin was a slave of Watto's when he was a boy, until my Master found him and took him to Coruscant to train him. Now I know you'll say his special powers got him there, but still he's had a very difficult life, moreso than you'll ever know."

"I….didn't know," Han said, not wanting to demonstrate how this news did change his opinion of them somewhat. "It's not like a I don't respect you, I just…you have to understand."

"I know," Obi Wan said. He did understand- (A.N. My version Han's history is part of 'Attachment' the story preceding this) a boy stolen from his family by a Sith and raised in a society where the Force was used as a weapon of intimidation and submission would understandably have some disdain for the culture of the Force. Obi Wan decided that he did like Han, despite the edge of the young man. In fact, it was probably this edge that Obi Wan did like, just as he liked Anakin…the two really were very similar, pure hearted but defensive and insecure. Yet, he felt that if Han truly wanted something to happen with Leia, he needed to truly understand with whom he would be dealing… "I just want you to be aware, Anakin Skywalker is a very powerful man. I know he seems ridiculous at times, and I know he has six children and I assure you he is one of the kindest and more pure hearted men I know, but don't let that fool you. The scar on his face is not a scratch from playing with one of his babies. Even now, with his family image, many people fear him. Even Jedi fear him, and when he gets very angry even I fear him. It is hard to comprehend the kind of power he has, but I will tell you that he is stronger with the Force than anyone in the history of the galaxy. He's pretty damn strong in terms of sheer strength as well. I'm only saying this because Leia is very important to me too, and since my claim to fame is negotiation while Anakin's is flirting with the dark side then single-handedly killing all of the Sith and saving the galaxy, I'd say he's more intimidating... And this is a sincere warning as well, I mean if you get on his bad side, Leia won't be able to help you, and neither will I for that matter. Just know what you're getting in to, and also never lose your respect for him."

"I know, trust me, I know what it can do," Han said, and Obi Wan knew he was referring to the Force and didn't even want to know what horrible event from his childhood he was remembering. "And I really do care for Leia. Really. And I respect you and Anakin more than you know, you saved me from slavery, and for that, whether I show it or not, I'm deeply grateful."

Obi Wan smiled. "Like I said before, you and Anakin are very similar, so hopefully you'll get along perfectly. Most likely though, you'll be at each other's throats the entire time…what's this I hear about you two racing ships when we're back on Coruscant?"

"I promise you, the Falcon can beat any ship in the galaxy," Han said proudly. "I've made several adjustments myself to ensure that."

"Remember, you and Anakin grew up working in the same repair shop, I would assume that you have both made the same adjustments to your ships, too complicated for everyone else but probably very worthy matches for one another. I look forward to seeing it."

"By the way, I could take anyone who needs a ride to Naboo, if maybe the kids aren't up to flying that far or…"

"Ah," Obi Wan said, laughing out loud this time. "Obviously, you have never seen the Skywalkers fly."

Almost on cue, Bail and Luke wandered in, laughing, each holding breakfast foods in their bare hands that they had obviously taken quickly from the buffet line, probably using the Force illegally, because Obi Wan had only allowed them each the 'continental breakfast' and not the full buffet.

"Well I can see where you two went after breakfast," Obi Wan mused, smiling at this classic example of the behavior of anyone sharing Anakin's genetic makeup. "I trust you didn't do anything I'm going to have to report to the Council when we get back to Coruscant?"

"Ok Master, first of all, what you call 'breakfast' was something even Leia would only consider a small snack, so don't blame us for needing more. Second of all, don't worry about how we got this because you didn't _see_ us do anything so you have no duty to the Council and also, you'll forget about it before mom finally decides it's time to leave Naboo," Luke said quickly and expertly, obviously having considered the possible repercussions of their actions in order to predict his former Master's reaction.

"Spoke like a true son of Anakin's," Obi Wan laughed.

"Or a true Padawan of yours," Luke added, going over and resting an arm fondly on Obi Wan's shoulder.

"Probably true," Obi Wan mused, smiling amusedly at Luke. "Now, where are your sisters…and where is your father, for that matter?"

"Dad's not here yet?" Bail asked, sharing an incredulous look with Luke. "Well, _we_ were on time."

Suddenly, Anakin strolled into the docking bay, looking very relaxed and giving a somewhat smug glance at Obi Wan, the origin of which no one understood.

"Well, your sons managed to be here on time," Obi Wan commented, teasing Anakin. However, instead of getting defensive like normal, Anakin just turned calmly to Obi Wan and smiled, as if contemplating how to present the point he obviously had to make.

"Well," Anakin said casually. "I'm sorry, I was a little busy this morning, there was just this little thing I had to attend to, it was just a Jedi Council meeting that's all. Hmm, interestingly one of the most senior members was blatantly missing, I wonder where he could have been- ah, I remember, he was waiting here for me all morning, and forgot to Holo in to the meeting."

"What, there was a…oh…" Obi Wan mumbled to himself, looking up at Anakin ashamedly. "Oh dear."

"Don't worry about it Master," Anakin said kindly, after a minute of letting Obi Wan be embarrassed. "I think that probably brings your total of skipped meeting to maybe 2, while mine probably rests at a solid thousand or so."

Finally, Taryn and Leia walked in, whispering to one another avidly.

"Yeah, but just because I'm a Jedi I should still get to wear flattering clothes sometimes," Taryn was saying, jealously eyeing Leia's beautiful gown while she stood in her Jedi outfit.

"You look beautiful anyway, don't worry," Leia said sweetly, smiling at her little sister.

"Force Leia, you really like this guy, you're never this nice," Taryn giggled.

"Taryn!" Leia said quickly, giving her sister a silencing look. "Shh."

"Are you quite finished?" Obi Wan asked, smiling tenderly at them. "Taryn is R8 on his way with your ship?"

"Yes, Master," Taryn responded.

"By the way, I for one think it's nice to see you back in your regular clothes after yesterday," Obi Wan said, causing Taryn and Leia to stare at one another in embarrassment that he had overheard them. "Much more respectable for a Padawan."

"Yes, Master," Taryn said nervously, still embarrassed that Han had probably overheard them too.

Soon, starfighters began zooming into the docking bay, and before Han even saw them move, the kids (and Anakin) had all flipped into their still moving ships and darted out into space, flying around each other in dangerous circles and racing one another around the ship. They would disappear and reappear so fast that even Han Solo was slightly taken aback that anyone could fly that well, great pilot as he was himself.

"Starting to rethink the race?" Obi Wan asked, his eyes twinkling kindly.

"Well I don't want to race one of the children, that's for sure," Han commented, smiling.

"Your racing the master," Obi Wan pointed out, as Anakin, who had been calmly observing his children from a hovering position in the sky suddenly seemed almost to jump with his starfighter right around Luke as the two began corkscrewing around one another, racing around the ship. "A bunch of showoffs, really, but as much as I hate to admit it it's impressive. They are phenomenal Jedi, all of them."

"Yeah," Han said, still watching them.

"Wish you still had your starfighter?" Obi Wan asked Leia, who he noticed watching them with a look of frustration and a touch of nostalgia and sadness. Sometimes, she really did miss the order, especially crazy moments like these with her siblings and father. However, she absolutely loved the refined dignity yet excitement of politics and the incredible leadership of her mother, who was one of the most revered politicians ever and, not only still brilliant and sought after constantly for advice, but still as glamorous as ever. Leia actually managed to appreciate her mother's fame as everyone else did, and yet be around her all the time as her daughter and as her colleague, and they got along incredibly well. Leia and Padme both loved the time they spent together, and so, as much as Leia missed the days of zipping around with her siblings, she wouldn't trade her life as a politician or her time with her mother for anything. And it wasn't as if she didn't have other ships- starfighters were just especially fun to fly.

"She's like this too?" Han asked incredulously, staring at the elegant looking woman in front of him who didn't seem to fit the profile of the rest of this family at all.

"She was his first Padawan," Obi Wan said, now walking over to his own starfighter. "She's almost better than Luke. Probably shouldn't let her fly your ship, she'd probably cause it to fall apart."

"Listen old man," Han said defensively, as Obi Wan laughed and jumped into his starfighter with amazing agility despite his age.

"Come on," Leia said, taking Han's hand in hers and kissing it. "Don't let him bother you, we'll have fun too."

Han looked at her and suddenly forgot everything else, and followed obediently as she led him onto his ship. He called Chewie who growled and followed them, and they began to start up the ship.

"Chewie, is he always this defensive?" Leia asked, teasing Han, and Chewie growled a 'yes,' laughing.

"Laugh it up, fuzzball," Han said sarcastically, then rolled his eyes and smiled at the two.


	15. Chapter 14

**Ch. 14**

"Leia," Han said tentatively as they sat together in the cockpit of the falcon, Han smiling warmly at the sight of Leia leaning on her arm casually in the co-pilots seat. He was ready to broach a subject that had been worrying him for some time. Quite bluntly, he was nervous about spending an extended amount of time with Leia's family; most of all he wasn't sure he'd fit in properly, but he also worried he'd get fed up and annoyed, as he always did, and not be able to handle being around all of them for so long. It was a miserable cycle, his short temper causing others to get fed up with him, only making him angrier. He'd always been somewhat of a loner, save Chewy and a few other friends like Lando Calrissian, and had never cared for the women in his life as he cared for Leia. Now he was actually going to have to make an effort to get along with a family for which he already felt a slight amount of contempt, despite his gratefulness to them, and what was worse, he really cared to make a good impression. As a child, he had tolerated Padme's mothering for a few days and had even enjoyed flying in the starfighter with Obi Wan and Anakin, but he had always been antsy to get out of there and hadn't really tried to be polite. This time, he hoped he was in this for the long haul, and he was going to have to make a good impression, and control his temper, and tolerate this family… the only problem was, he didn't know how.

Furthermore, and secretly most important though Han wouldn't admit it to himself, was that he was a little afraid of Anakin. Obi Wan's warning hadn't mattered, Han had already been afraid of Anakin, he had watched him fight first hand, and Han didn't have to be a Jedi to sense Anakin did not like men in Leia's life…especially Han. For Force sake, the man was unstoppable, he'd lost a hand, he'd been hit with a full blast of Sith lightning, he had crazy scars that even his wife didn't ask about…yes, Han was intimidated. And he hated to be intimidated at all, to not be the fiercest, most brave man in a room…so he was a little worried about this whole Skywalker thing. What would it take for Leia to come to the conclusion he was a wimp? How strong were these Jedi children?

Han had been waiting for Chewy to go to the back to finish the minor ship repairs left over from their premature departure from the transport, because he didn't want his friend to see this more tender side of himself, knowing full well Chewy would tease him about it almost as much as Han would have teased Chewy were the situation reversed.

"What is it?" Leia asked, turning to him and smiling as she put her hand softly on top of his. Now Han didn't even know what he wanted to say. Leia…I'm scared of your father? I don't get along with people? What if your six-year-old sister attacks me…ok, that's enough thinking. Say something…

"I'm nervous, about…"

"Getting along with my family?" Leia asked.

Oh right, they can read minds. Sith, sith sith.

"H-how much of my mind did you read?" Han asked, beginning to sweat nervously. Yes, he was glad Chewy wasn't here. This was not the normal Han Solo, this was stuttering, sweating, idiotic, afraid of women and Jedi Han Solo.

"Han, I'm not reading your mind. We don't just read minds whenever we want, it's not like that. That would be chaos. We have to really try, to really want to hear something because it concerns something much greater than simply wanting to read someone's mind. Now I actually happen to be rather gifted at it, but that's beside the point. With my family, especially Luke, its easier, but I can't just listen to every thought you have. Don't worry. I just know, I watched you sitting there getting nervous, and I just know."

"Oh," Han said, only sweating more and more as he noticed how calm and collected Leia was. And yet he liked that aspect of her so much. "Well, yes, that is what I'm worried about…I'm not sure staying is such a great idea, I'm not so great with people."

"Han, my family is not 'people.' Not in the normal sense," Leia laughed, and her laughter caused Han to calm down some as he simply let himself revel in it. 'Oh no, don't start falling in love wit her,' he thought to himself. Han Solo doesn't' do that. "I promise you, it will be fine…and _don't_," she said quickly, just as Han opened his mouth to speak again, "worry about my father. Remember, he has a lot of sympathy for you, he comes from the same place you do. And as intimidating as he might act around you, he's very sweet…and very much a loser, don't worry," she laughed, thinking fondly of how bumbling and awkward Anakin Sykwalker really was. "My mother still can't help but laugh at her memories of him trying to win her over. He's more insecure than you might think, just remember that."

"Oh," Han said, unsure of how to respond to that. It made him feel better, but still, this was coming from the man's daughter, and he could tell immediately how much of a daddy's girl she was and how much Anakin would do for her, and let her get away with. For Han it was a different story.

"Although," Leia said pensively now, looking out at the stars with a distant smile on her face, and then turning intently to Han, "it would be wise not to get him angry." She bit her lip, looking at him worriedly and then beginning to laugh. "I can't help you if you really get him angry. Suddenly all of that ridiculousness just…disappears, and he can become quite scary…Don't worry though, he loves Naboo, it's where he finally got my mother tofall in love with him."

At these words, Han shifted his gaze nervously.

"Yes Han, it's a very romantic place," Leia laughed, smiling sweetly at him. "Nervous?"

"No," Han lied.

"You're a great liar," Leia giggled sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him. "Don't worry, there's going to be a million Skywalkers there invading our privacy at all times."

"That's what I'm nervous about," Han lied again. Well, only half lied. He was nervous about that too.

Leia smiled. "They like you, don't worry."

"Right," Han grunted, rolling his eyes.

"They do, Taryn thinks you're cute, Bail thinks you're much cooler than his real big brother, Luke thinks he's cooler than you and thus likes you, my mom jumps at any opportunity to take care of anyone without a family of their own, expect a lot of doting, and my father likes you, though he doesn't show it, because you were a slave of Watto's, and because you agreed to race him on Coruscant and he loves anyone he can beat," she smirked, and Han smirked right back at her. "Oh he'll win."  
Deciding to be the bigger person and ignore that last challenge (though he did make a face) Han instead decided to inquire as to how Leia was so sure of all of these things.

"Well I told you mind reading's not so easy," Leia said mischievously. "With my family though, when they aren't blocking me, it is. We're here, by the way," she said suddenly, and before Han could even react she had taken over and begun to land the ship. True to her nature, she impressed Han so much he forgot to get angry that anyone other than he or Chewy was flying the Falcon, and he had to admit she was an excellent pilot and no less daring than her family as she darted into the Naboo atmosphere, gave the landing code, was greeted (by name and title (because of her mother's former position as Queen, all of the children were respectfully called princes and princesses), Han noted, rolling his eyes and groaning) and they landed.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"Anakin, how wonderful to see you again," Jobal said warmly as she embraced her son-in-law.

"It's great to be back," Anakin said, smiling tenderly as the sight of Padme's family around him touched him as it always did; it was the only family he had ever known, and it was more than he could have ever dreamed of. Leia, Han, Luke, Bail, and Taryn were now greeting their cousins, Ryoo and Pooja, as Anakin talked with Sola and the rest of the family sat by munching on the snacks Jobal had layed out.

"They've all grown so much," Sola whispered to Anakin as they watched the cousins great one another, Han standing by awkwardly, going quickly over all of the names in his head so that he could remember. Pooja and Ryoo were now 26 and 30 (A.N. I think this is about right?). Pooja was a Senator, a fact which touched Padme because Pooja had been inspired by her aunt, and one that still worried the Naberrie family just as it worried them with Padme, proud as they were of both of them. Leia and Pooja usually had a lot to talk about because of their common interest. Ryoo still lived on Naboo, was married and had just recently had her first baby, and her younger cousins were now ogling over it as Leia and Pooja talked.

"You're a grandmother," Anakin pointed out, teasing his sister-in-law.

"Don't remind me," Sola laughed. "I feel old enough already. Most importantly though, don't remind my parents that they are now great-grandparents."

Anakin laughed whole-heartedly, then suddenly his smile faded a little as he glanced nervously at Leia kissing the baby's forhead.

"Worried you'll look away, turn back, and she'll suddenly have one of her own?" Sola asked, laying a hand warmly on Anakin's arm.

"You know I've always been convinced this family has secret Force abilities," Anakin smiled, turning back to Sola with a look of mixed pride and sadness.

"I know the time goes by quickly," Sola said, nodding pensively. "I still remember that day Padme came running off that ship to tell us she'd been married three years and had two babies as if it was yesterday. But remember Anakin, as nostalgic as you are, think how happy and warm you're feeling right now, and remember that all of that time you feel has just slipped away was actually spent with your family, building this feeling of love and warmth in you, and you'll begin to remember how wonderful it was, how full it was, and it won't seem wasted anymore."

"I've missed you, Sola," Anakin said, warmly putting a hand on his sister-in-law's shoulder. "You should really be my personal therapist or something. You always know just what to say…ever think about moving to Coruscant?"

"Oh," Sola laughed, eyes twinkling up at Anakin. "You know that life's not for us. It's the politics and wars that would cause me worry for Leia, rather than the babies. You should count your blessings if she decides to settle down with a family rather than follow the footsteps of her crazy mother, inheriting not only her brilliance but her assassination threats and the hounding of the media."

"Who's crazy?" Padme asked, walking up and pulling on the hands of Elsé and Zeke, smiling at her sister despite looking very flustered and annoyed from what was obviously a difficult trip.

"Well look who decided to show up," Sola laughed, kissing her sister on the cheek and picking up Elsé, who giggled.

"I missed you," Anakin said lovingly as he kissed Padme on the lips.

"Daddy!" Zeke and Elsé shouted, as Anakin scooped his youngest son into his arms and kissed Elsé on the cheek in her aunt's arms.

"Dad," Zeke groaned, looking around at all the people watching and getting red in the face.

"Oh I'm sorry buddy," Anakin laughed. "You're too grown up now to play pod racing with your old dad."

"Well," Zeke reconsidered when he heard that pod racing was in store. "Ok, I guess maybe once."

"Ok, maybe we will," Anakin said casually, looking away feigning disinterest,

"I'll play, me! Me!" Elsé shouted, tapping her father on the shoulder from her aunt's arms.

"No, I'll play!" Zeke shouted, pushing Elsé's arm out of the way. "I'll play definitely."

"Ok then," Anakin smiled. "I guess I have to."

With that, he picked Zeke up and began running madly around the house. He would pretend he was about to bump into things, and Zeke would yell "left" or "right" to make him dodge them. Elsé began squirming in Sola's arms, and immediately as Sola put her down she ran after her father, yelling that it was her turn next.

"Hey!" Leia said suddenly, hitting Luke on the arm.

"Ow," Luke mumbled, rubbing his arm.

"Honestly, you're such a baby," Leia said, rolling her eyes. "I never realized why dad played that game before, but it must be because of his upbringing on Tatooine. Remember he said he Pod raced there?"

"Oh yeah, you're right!" Luke agreed, as Anakin whizzed by them, all the while yelling for Zeke to keep paying attention so they wouldn't hit any rocks.

Watching this, Han suddenly began to understand how Anakin Skywalker might be a little bit goofy, and a little bit a loving and kind father as everyone claimed.

"So Padme, why do you look like a speeder ran over you?" Sola asked, back in the living room, teasing her sister.

"I had the _worst_ trip over here _ever_," Padme groaned, rubbing her forehead and trying to straighten out her hair. "Honestly, I really miss the handmaidens sometimes."

"Well some of us have _always_ had to live without them, imagine the hardship for us regular folks," Sola teased, smiling fondly at Padme.

"It's just," Padme continued, ignoring her sister's last comment. "I'm not even serving anymore, and still I can't go anywhere without being harassed, having a barrage of questions yelled at me all the time."

"I've never understood that life of yours, little sister," Sola said, putting her arm on her sister's shoulder. "I still can't believe you were Chancellor…the stories I could tell the Media about you when you were younger, if I chose to…"

"It's an awfully good thing I have trustworthy family and friends, I can tell you that," Padme sighed.

"What did they want this time?"

"Well, the fact that I was alone with the two children of course sparked a series of questions regarding the whereabouts of my husband, whether our marriage was falling apart, things like that," Padme groaned. "I'd better warn him before he sees a Holo report about our impending divorce or something like that. Knowing Anakin he'd freak out and think I was leaving him, even after almost twenty-five years of a happy marriage… and then of course the poor children had to deal with it, they still don't understand really what's going on. Zeke's starting to but Elsé just gets confused, or she thinks its fun that everyone wants to talk to her, I find myself having to warn my _six_ year old about the dangers of wandering off with strange people just because they're interested in you…" Padme stopped, and smiled up at her sister. "I've needed you."

"I can tell, come sit down, maybe say hi to our parents?" Sola smiled, leading Padme over to the couches.

"Who are now great-grandparents, by the way," Padme commented, kissing her parents on the cheek and sitting down. "Congratulations."

"You've been waiting to say that to us since you heard, haven't you," Ruwee laughed, smiling fondly at his daughter.

"They're having a little bit of difficulty adjusting to being so old," Sola half whispered to Padme, teasing her parents. "You've got to see the baby though, he's beautiful."

"Has she named him yet?" Padme asked, really enjoying being once again among her family on their safe little planet of Naboo, away from the crazy hustle and bustle of the city. As much as she loved Coruscant, and politics, and their life there, she did enjoy getting back to Naboo to relax with her family whenever she could. Most of all it was nice to see how incredibly relaxed and happy Anakin was when he was here; she knew he had never experienced a life like this as a child and she couldn't have been happier to be the one to bring it to him. What was more, everyone got along beautifully, and they usually had an incredible time here.

Back outside, Anakin had finished running around with Elsé and Zeke, and was now standing with his children and nieces (and grand-nephew), smiling at them tiredly.

"Well…what are we going to find to do here for so long?" He asked, honestly wondering as he did every time, forgetting about the organized competitions he made everyone take part in whenever they were here.

"Oh, _I wonder_," Taryn said sarcastically, as all the kids rolled their eyes.

"Uncle Anakin, you know that every year you make us all play those ridiculous games," Pooja commented after Anakin had turned to Taryn, truly confused, or at least pretending to be. He did seem to think that by introducing them as a new idea each time they would seem more exciting to everyone. They never did.

"Is Anakin pretending to have forgotten about the Skywalker Games again?" Padme asked, rolling her eyes as she walked up to them. "Ani, we all know about it now. There's no more surprise, ok?" She said lovingly, going over and putting her arms around his neck and kissing him.

"Mmf," He mumbled, pouting even as she kissed him.

"By the way, we're not getting divorced," Padme said casually..

"That's….that's good," he said, staring at her quizzically.

"It's just, something you might see on the Holo Net. I, um… might have gotten a little fed up with the reporters, nothing to worry about," she said timidly, looking down but smiling to herself.

"You can tell them whatever you want, I don't care," Anakin smiled, turning her chin back up to him. "I know you love me. I would know if you didn't. You can't hide."

"And that's being married to a Jedi," Padme teased, turning to the others.

"And you wouldn't have it any other way," Anakin said smugly, kissing the top of her head.

"All right, this is _awesome_, but I'm going to go get something to eat," Bail mumbled, wandering inside, Elsé following him closely.

"He's adorable, by the way, Ryoo," Padme said, turning to lookat her great-nephew. "I feel extremely old though."

"You don't look a day older than you did when they were born," Ryoo complimented her, smiling and gesturing towards the twins.

"You're a good liar," Padme laughed, taking the baby from her niece and kissing his head. "But I appreciate it. He's so well behaved."

"He looks a lot like Zeke did as a baby," Anakin commented, and Padme nodded, handing the baby to him.

"First boy that isn't part of your family," Pooja commented. "There's you and Sola, me and Ryoo."

"Who's trusting Anakin with a baby?" Came a voice from behind them, and they turned to see Obi Wan and Sabe approaching them from the landing strip.

"I don't know if you remember, Master, but I have six of my own children," Anakin laughed, shaking Obi Wan's hand and patting his back as he walked over. Padme embraced Sabe as everyone exchanged greetings.

"He is surprisingly good with children," Padme admitted, smiling fondly at Anakin. "You know, when he isn't handing them real light sabers at the age of two, convinced his own offspring can handle it."

"That _was_ a fiasco," Obi Wan nodded, as they all thought back to it. He soon turned to the baby in Anakin's arms. "And who is this?"

"Taryn still has a scar from it," Luke commented quietly, as Leia laughed Anakin shot them an angry look for reminding everyone of that.

"Yeah it happened," Leia said as she noticed Han looking at her incredulously. "Better not to ask."

"My son," Ryoo informed him, smiling proudly.

"My goodness I feel old," Obi Wan laughed fondly at the baby. "Not that I'm even a part of this family but I've lived it all. Ryoo you're still a little girl in my eyes… Congratulations."

"Not too soon, ok?" Padme whispered to Leia, smiling warmly as she saw her daughter watching the baby fondly. "I'm not old enough to be a grandmother yet, and you've got your whole life ahead of you, and your career to remember."

"Don't worry, I would never go rushing into an illicit relationship and get pregnant as a senator," Leia commented offhandedly, as Padme frowned at her and stepped back, Leia smiling smugly but lovingly at her mother.

"It wasn't my fault," Padme contested, continuing their quiet conversation. "I was very careful, it- well, never mind."

"Tell me about _that_ later," Leia said, suddenly intrigued. "Anyway, don't worry mom I'm not jumping into anything."

"Good," Anakin said loudly, and Padme and Leia turned to him suddenly. "I mean…um, I wasn't listening, or anything… By the way, you'd better tell me that story later too, Padme."

"It's not a _story_," Padme said, flustered. "It's not my fault if birth control doesn't work."

"Maybe I'm just too good," Anakin mumbled to Padme, who glared at him, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"_Anyway_," Leia said loudly, turning back to Han. "I'm pretty sure Han's feeling pretty uncomfortable right now, so we're going to go somewhere else."

"Leia! Leia!" Zeke yelled, running over to his big sister as she and Han wandered inside. "Watch!" He suddenly did two perfect flips in a row holding his light saber, a trick most kids didn't master until they were older, and then beamed proudly at Leia and especially Han.

"Wow Zeke, that's great," Leia smiled warmly at her brother. "I'm very proud, but remember it's not nice to show off."

"But I just learned!" Zeke argued. "And I practiced all week! I am so rubbing that in dad's face…"

"Now, showing off in front of him is ok," Leia smiled, continuing to talk to Zeke as they wandered inside.

As they walked, and Han watched everyone laughing, chatting, running around, teasing one another, he could suddenly tell that Leia was right- these people weren't like others he had met. They were so much more loving, and so much kinder- and he knew that if he could get to like anyone, he could get to like them. He was still a little wary of Anakin, and he could definitely tell why Leia thought they were a little crazy, even a little inappropriate at times…and yet, he felt like he could fit right in.


	16. Chapter 15

**Ch. 15**

"Well come on then, old man," Luke yelled menacingly to his father from across the spacious lawn at Padme's family lake house on Naboo. The two Skywalker men were in the middle of a rather intense dual, the violent and somewhat accidental result of a series of comments thrown back and forth between the men when they had been participating in what had started as separate conversations. Luke had been chatting with his cousins, Ryoo and Pooja, and admiring Ryoo's baby, when he had casually recalled (within earshot of Anakin) an amusing mishap involving Anakin, the hyperdrive on his starfighter, lighter fluid, and Elsé as an infant. Seeing as this incident had ended safely (despite a period of about five minutes in which it had _appeared_ to Padme that her infant had been blown up by its father along with the hyperdrive of the starfighter, and Padme had come very close to killing Anakin with his own light saber), Luke had assumed everyone would find it funny at this point in time, and had also believed Anakin to be highly absorbed in a conversation with Han concerning the Tatooine pod racing scene. However, Luke turned out to be wrong, for while everyone else chuckled at the memory Anakin himself, not quite so absorbed in the conversation with his daughter's current choice of boyfriend (none of whom Anakin ever liked) as Luke had believed, turned to remind Luke of his own part in the incident.

_Thirty minutes earlier…_

"You know, _Luke,_" Anakin spat at his son somewhat contentiously. "If you'll recall, it was you who had mistaken the lighter fluid for the engine grease we needed to repair the hyperdrive."

"Excuse me?" Luke responded, trying to maintain his composure. "I believe you were the one who told me I would find it next to the power converters in the hangar at the temple, _and_ I was only fourteen at the time, dad."

"Most fourteen year olds do know how to read," Anakin muttered under his breath to Han, who chuckled, unsure of whether Anakin would approve of this or not.

"I heard you," Luke said loudly, drawing the attention of his two little brothers, who had been wrestling nearby, and Padme, who seemed to be able to sense when any of her family members with that dangerous mix of stubbornness and Force intuition were about to get violent.

"Luke, what's going-"

"Don't pull your mother into this," Anakin said, stepping in front of Padme as she approached.

"You just don't want her to remember," Luke said hotly. "About how you almost killed Elsé."

"You almost killed me daddy?" Came the little girl's voice from across the lawn where her big sisters had been entertaining her demands that they play tea party with her and her dolls. "When?"

"No, angel you know I would never hurt you," Anakin said, looking sweetly at the shocked eyes of his precious little girl, then turning to glare and his eldest son. "Good job, Luke."  
"Look I wasn't trying to be contentious," Luke muttered, trying despite his stubbornness to give in and apologize so as not to cause a bigger problem.

"Right," Anakin said, unsure of how to accept an apology without some sort of aggressive negotiations (yes, even within his family a brief sparring match usually solved most disputes, seeing as among the Skywalkers they ended up having so much fun fighting they forgot why they were arguing in the first place). "I know you didn't want to have to fight me…"

"Well I wouldn't have wanted you to be embarrassed in front of the family," Luke said hotly, unable to maintain his cool, calm façade.

"That's it," Anakin grumbled, stepping away from Han and into the open green. "You know I can take you anytime. Obi Wan was your Master, how good can you be?"

"He was your Master too!" Luke laughed out loud, unable to believe the idiocy of his father's last comment, and very pleased with the edge it had given him in the verbal debate.

"Um," Anakin muttered, looking to Padme whose hand was covering her face and eyes.

"Nice comeback," Luke taunted, as Obi Wan now wandered over to see what was going on.

"Oh no," The old Jedi Master mumbled as he took stock of the situation and understood immediately that another Skywalker dual was about to take place. "Why, all my Padawans…"

Instantly, Luke and Anakin were fighting (fairly viciously, too), and no one could even tell who had made the first move- both were so good at predicting the others' movements that when any one struck, the other engaged him before anyone could see what was going on.

And so, they had been sparring relentlessly now for almost a half hour, so much so that Obi Wan was beginning to worry that they really might hurt one another. However, this was far from the most dramatic thing that had happened, seeing as the rest of the family had taken the welcome distraction of attention to go off and do whatever they chose while Anakin was otherwise occupied and could not be worrying constantly about their whereabouts and activities.

For example, Han and Leia had snuck off to, in the words of Zeke who thought he knew what he was talking about, 'canoodle in the woods.' Really, they were just sitting together in the gardens, cuddling and talking, but of course Leia's two younger brothers who were spying on them would later tell a much more dramatic story over dinner.

Elsé had led a less-than-amused Taryn nearly a mile to the next estate, where Elsé had met some children her age the other day and wished to play dolls with them again. Taryn had grudgingly followed, having nothing else to do, but had discovered upon arrival that Elsé's little friends had a rather cute older brother, of the same age and level of boredom as Taryn herself. So, she had wandered off with him and was now experiencing only her second kiss ever. Despite her extreme beauty and talent, Taryn was self-diagnosed as awkward, and though her older sister told her otherwise all the time, and encouraged her to be more outgoing, Taryn was actually rather shy in most social situations.

Everyone else remained to watch the fight, and were having no less fun than those who had wandered off. Any fight between Anakin and Luke Skywalker, or Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi, or Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, always ended up being quite entertaining. Obi Wan himself was actually getting quite absorbed in watching them fight, and kept fighting the urge to jump in and just fight against both of them.

"All right, I've got to get out of here before one of them kills the other, I seriously can't deal with this anymore," Padme mumbled, wandering off to see what her daughters were up to, her sister Sola in tow.

"Do they do this a lot?" Sola asked amusedly, understanding perfectly that Padme was far less worried than she was annoyed.

"Whenever they're in close proximity for an extended period of time, they either find themselves the best of friends, ruthlessly making fun of others, or at complete odds with one another, sparring. I think they enjoy both though, because if the other is not present at a family event they both complain bitterly that they miss each other," Padme explained, not sure if that had even made sense.

"They're pretty amazing," Sola commented, still amazed at their skill even after so many years of observing it.

"Yeah, and they know it," Padme laughed. "Two of the most arrogant men in the galaxy… and yet I love them both so much."

"I can tell," Sola giggled. "When you watch Anakin fight I can see how much you enjoy it."

"Sola!" Padme laughed, hitting her sister. "Its true though… especially when he and Obi Wan used to fight when they were younger, Sabe and I would just watch them for hours…anyway," Padme said suddenly, shaking off the memory. "Where is everyone? Isn't it dinner time soon?"

"Yeah we should get started making it," Sola agreed. It was a tradition that whenever the family got together the girls would cook a big meal together. They had a cook, but for one night the girls enjoyed getting together to cook, it gave them time to spend together. The kids usually helped too, but the men seemed to shrink away from it, a fact about which Padme teased Anakin incessantly, and the others helped tease the rest of the men about it too. But really, Padme and Sola didn't mind, because it gave them time to talk to their children and spend time with them.

"Where are the kids?" Padme wondered out loud, looking around the main room and kitchen as they walked in.

"Better split up and look," Sola commented, beginning to wander through the halls. "I'll look upstairs, you take the main floor."

Padme walked through the halls, suddenly wishing this house was not so big. However, she soon came across Leia and Han kissing in the hallway right next to the door out to the gardens.

"Ahem," She cleared her throat loudly, smiling at them and raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, hi," Leia said quickly, pushing Han away from her and then realizing how stupid that was. She was twenty, after all, her mother didn't care that she was kissing her boyfriend, for Force sake. And yet, it was instinct.

"Hi Mrs. Skywalker," Han mumbled, his face turning red like a little boy caught pulling a girl's pigtails in grade school.

"It's time to make dinner," was all Padme said, smiling slyly looking intently at Leia and then turning away to find the others.

"Wait," Leia said, straightening her hair and dress and then following her mother. "I'm coming."

"Do you need some help?" Han asked genuinely, following them towards the kitchen to help.

"No, you just go be lazy with those other losers we call men," Leia said sarcastically, teasing him. "It's kind of tradition for us girls to do it."

"I can help," Han offered again, feeling rather uncomfortable with the situation.

"Han, it's ok," Leia giggled, kissing him on the cheek. "We _choose_ to do it… We do have a cook after all," she laughed.

"Sorry, princess," Han said sarcastically, using his pet name for her and rolling his eyes. "I always forget you guys are royalty here."

"And I forget what a bum you are, nerfherder," Leia teased, pushing him away and following her mother to the kitchen.

"So, things seem to be going well with you two," Padme commented, smiling slyly at her daughter. "How serious is this?"  
"Oh mother, I don't know," Leia giggled, feeling lighter and happier than she had in a long time. "It's like, suddenly the seriousness of politics and everything doesn't seem so important anymore…that's bad isn't it?" She smiled, biting her lip.

"The worst," Padme nodded commiseratively, shaking her head and smiling at her daughter.

"When you fell in love with dad, did you forget all about politics and everything too?"

"I wished I could," Padme said, thinking sadly to the violent climate during the clone wars. "But remember, we had to keep it a secret…I wished could just run away from it all with him, but we couldn't do that, we had to keep working to bring peace…"

"I can't even imagine," Leia said pensively, shaking her head. "How did you do it?"  
"I really don't know," Padme smiled, trying to remember. "There were times my mind would wander off, during important meetings, and all I could think about was him… especially once I knew I was pregnant. And yet, I had to push all thoughts of him from my mind, or I would go crazy with worry… imagine Han was all the way across the galaxy, fighting a war, and you never knew if he was alive or…"

"That's awful," Leia commented quietly, thinking of the difficulty her mother had gone through for love. "It's amazing you two got through all of that alive, together… sane…"

Padme laughed remorsefully. "You know we almost didn't, Leia," Padme reminded her daughter. "Your father…." She paused for a long time, thinking back to Anakin's flirtation with the dark side. "Well, let's not think about that right now…so what is Han like?"

"Strangely," Leia commented, laughing, "kind of like dad. Is that weird?"

"No," Padme laughed. "It's actually extremely common for women fall in love with someone who shares similar traits with their fathers… because if makes you feel secure. Plus, no two unrelated people are ever similar enough for it to be too weird. Plus, you share my genes too, and I think we're doomed to all fall for stubborn, insecure, yet overly-proud men who think they're extremely manly but are actually rather loveably immature."

"That's _definitely_ true," Leia laughed. After a moment, she turned to her mother in amusement, biting her lip. "How do you handle that?"

"Look, just follow my number one rule in dealing with Anakin Skywalker or similarly insecure men with oddly inflated egos: never inspire further cockiness by complimenting them profusely on talents they know they have," Padme said seriously, then smiled at Leia with an amused twinkle in her eye. "Just know when to be really supportive, and when to make fun of him, brutally. And with your father, you also have to kind of curb his rage, but with Han it's different since you don't really risk, you know, having things implode or people die if he gets too mad…"

Leia laughed, then stopped suddenly when she realized her mother was serious, and thought back to when her father got really mad.

"Yeah… good job with that," Leia commented, then wandered into the kitchen, only to find Luke and Anakin sitting across the breakfast table, staring at one another angrily, and yet no longer sparring.

"So the fight ended then," Padme commented off-handedly, not even wanting to know who had won.

"Obi Wan said we had to stop," Anakin pouted, and Padme was again transported back to when she had first seen the willful little nine-year-old Anakin on Tatooine.

"Did he also put you in time out?" She teased, as Leia laughed.

"Yes," Came the mopey response from Luke and Anakin, after which Padme and Leia couldn't contain their laughter and stepped back into the hallway to laugh so as not to further anger Anakin or Luke.

"See, it's so ridiculous, and yet this is why I love him," Padme said to Leia, as they finally stopped laughing and wandered back into the kitchen. "I guess you two can help us cook then," Padme suggested, and Luke and Anakin looked at one another in horror.

However, five minutes later Anakin and Luke stood behind the counter chopping vegetables (or rather, stood there talking while they Force-moved the knives chopping the vegetables).

But the best part about it was, they were now chatting amiably again, discussing new fighting strategies and the latest ship modifications for higher speeds, having forgotten their dispute and both feeling good after the evenings workout. And so, in another half hour's time, the entire family plus Obi Wan and Sabe gathered round the huge dining room table to eat the feast Anakin and Luke had prepared, took a moment to smell the great food around them, took a bite… and looked at one another in horror, got up, and ran away to find something edible for dinner, leaving Luke and Anakin sitting alone and wondering why everyone had suddenly left the meal they had so diligently worked to prepare.


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey everybody! Thanks for the great reviews, I hope you are still enjoying, let me know! This chapter's going to be randomly serious near the end (two whole plots of seriousness!), because I feel like it, and this story has had no real plan about it so I'm going to continue the random theme and throw in some real plot here…hope you like it and are ok dealing with my jumping around from funny to serious! This chapter is exciting, and long…actually I had so much fun writing it. Very tense at the end, so the next few chapters are going to have a lot more plot for you. I hope you like it, I'm just enjoying writing. Let me know!**

**Ch. 16**

"Daddy, we're going to go look at the jewelry booth over there, but we need some money," Taryn informed her father in an expertly sweet and loving tone, as her sisters both also smiled up at him with faces all three knew he could never resist. The entire group was attending a festival in the town, a sweet little fair with booths and games that Padme had demanded the entire family (plus Obi Wan and Sabe) attend, as a Naboo tradition. The girls had now decided that there were many things here worth having, and thus had approached their father for money, even though the two who were still members of the Jedi order weren't really supposed to own very much jewelry or clothing. However, since the code had changed, Jedi were allowed some possessions. Plus, Anakin thought to himself, on Naboo the children got to just act like kids for once in their life, and have a little fun…and he knew he couldn't really resist them when they asked- that was Padme's job, and also the reason they never approached her about it. Whether it was the soon to be twenty year old or the barely six year old, Anakin Skywalker's biggest weakness was the smiling faces of his daughters. When they confronted him as a group, they were practically guaranteed to get anything they wanted. Leia and Taryn had really refined their technique and were nearly perfect at getting Anakin to give in to them, and Elsé was still little and cute enough that she didn't even have to try.

As Anakin stared down at his daughters, he began to experience the familiarly uncomfortable feeling of knowing that his daughters would win him over no matter what he did. He stared around desperately hoping Padme was nearby, or even Obi Wan, but found that he was indeed alone eating a Naboo delicacy he had discovered about ten minutes ago and had been enjoying right in front of the booth in which he had purchased it ever since. And there they were, three angelic faces smiling at him sweetly, and it made him feel so proud and he loved them so much…

"Um," He mumbled, mouth full of cake, "Well…"

"Please daddy?" Elsé squeaked in her tiny little voice, pulling on his hand gently. He looked down at her, the big brown eyes he now knew so well all scrunched up in hopefulness- how could he not buy her jewelry to make her look even prettier?

"I'm not saying I fully approve of this," Leia said, trying to be the reasonable, adult politician that she was, "but I really do need a necklace for the senate ball next week. How will I get elected if I don't look presentable?"

'Ok,' Leia thought to herself. 'That was a cheap shot, but still…'

"Ok well I'll come look with you then," Anakin mumbled, assuming that as long as he was there he would be able to monitor what they bought.

"Wouldn't you rather go join Luke at the bar? He's getting some blue stuff," Taryn suggested, knowing this sounded far more appealing to her father than shopping for jewelry with his daughters.

"Daddy, I want to get two of those string bracelets, one for me and one for you to wear so we can be bracelet buddies and remember each other when we're far away!" Elsé said out of the blue, and all three could sense the extreme sincerity in her little Force signature.

Taryn and Leia stared at Elsé, and then turned to one another, beaming, knowing that they would now be given about a billion credits. After that last comment, he probably wouldn't even know what he was doing for at least five minutes, it was so sweet.

Sure enough, Anakin melted and gave them more money than he should have, and Elsé wandered away happily not even understanding the situation. Taryn and Leia followed her in disbelief.

"Thank the Force that one came along," Leia said, smiling in amazement at their little sister wandering off in front of them.

"It's a good thing we gave them that spa getaway present for their anniversary six years ago" Taryn commented, and Leia nodded in agreement.

"And the bottle of blue stuff," Leia reminded Taryn. The story as they understood it was that a day of spa treatments and a fun night of blue stuff had led to the mistake that was Elsé…

"Well clearly they don't even need blue stuff for all of us accidents to happen," Taryn noted, and Leia laughed. "I'm not sure even a single one of us was planned."

"Seriously," Leia agreed. "For the Chancellor of the Republic and a famous Jedi Master, they're pretty irresponsible."

"My favorite thing is how surprised they are every time another one comes along," Taryn laughed, thinking back to every time Padme had found out she was pregnant. "Mom just frets for days and wonders out loud how it could've happened, and Dad's always like, 'the Council is going to think I can't control myself!'"

"Right, as if they didn't think that already," Leia laughed out loud. "Honestly, this family is ridiculous…Ellie, don't wander too far ahead," she scolded her little sister who was running happily in front of them to buy her friendship bracelets for her and her dad.

"That comment was priceless," Taryn laughed. "Dad melted."

"Yeah, but the day I see Anakin Skywalker wearing a bracelet…" Leia thought amusedly, not finishing her sentence.

"I know but how can he not? It would break her heart."

"He'll wear it for like two days and then start to wear it less and less until she forgets," Leia informed Taryn, remembering several art projects and presents their father had made a big deal over for a few days and then let them all forget about. "And Obi Wan will make fun of him brutally too, all though not in front of Elsé of course."

"Well, look who's here… classic," Taryn said amusedly as, with a cry of 'mommy!' Elsé ran to her mother who was also looking at the jewelry booth.

"Did you pester your father for money?" Padme said immediately, eyeing her girls strictly even though they knew she wasn't mad.

"No, not at all, what would make you think that?" Mumbled Leia and Taryn, laughing.

"Honestly, that man's mind can withstand the influence of a Sith lord but put his little girls in front of him and he crumbles," Padme sighed, smiling fondly at the thought of Anakin. "That makes _perfect_ sense...Where is he, by the way?"

"He and Luke are over having some blue stuff at the bar," Leia told her. "Where's everyone else?"

"Well, no one's seen Sabe and Obi Wan for an hour," Padme told them, smiling amusedly.

"Honestly," Taryn said loudly, "Isn't he supposed to be training me or something? Always with Sabe, they act like they're teenagers or something."

"Well…anyway," Padme said, not having anything to say after Taryn's comment. "Sola and Darred are helping Ryoo and her husband pick out some adorable baby clothes over there…and my parents and Pooja headed home I think. Where are Han and the boys?"

"I actually don't know," Leia realized. "Hopefully he's not off teaching them how to pick up women or something."  
"Right, good…" Padme said, slightly distracted by the people that were looking at her in recognition, trying to ignore them because she didn't want to get approached and end up having to talk to people or be the gracious famous politician and pose for pictures. She really had thought she was fairly inconspicuous, but on Naboo it was hard to be seeing as to them she was a former queen as _well_ as former Chancellor, whereas in the rest of the galaxy it was just former Chancellor. She thought walking away importantly would be the best action to take, so she decided to go find Anakin and look like she had to keep moving and couldn't be stopped. "I'm going to go find your father. Keep an eye on your little sister," She nodded towards Elsé who was wandering around the jewelry stand by herself.

Padme walked off quickly to find Anakin, leaving the three girls to look around. Suddenly, Han came wandering over to them looking very angry, with Chewy trying to console him and Bail and Zeke giggling at his heals. As he walked over, Leia went to give him a comforting hug.

"What's wrong?" She asked, sensing that he was actually fairly upset. "You weren't corrupting my little brothers were you?"

"No, instead they were kicking my ass at Sabaac," Han complained, shooting a smirk at the boys who stuck their tongues out at him in return.

"Han, they don't even know how to play Sabaac," Leia said, looking confusedly at Han and eyeing the boys suspiciously.

"Well I taught them, thinking it would be good to get to know your family, you know, have a little fun with the boys, and then five seconds later they're winning all my money," Han whined, sulking as Leia kissed his cheek.

"I don't understand how…wait- Boys!" She said suddenly, hitting them both on the side of the head. "You know you're not supposed to do that. It's not fair."

"What?" Han asked, suddenly straightening up as he realized she seemed to know something.

"They were cheating, Han," Leia informed him, eyeing her brothers angrily. "Jedi aren't really supposed to play games like that, it's…"

"What, so they can see my cards or something? I didn't know you all had x-ray vision," Han muttered. "You guys just get creepier by the second."  
"Ok, first of all, calling me creepy is not getting you any tonight," Leia said quietly, although her siblings heard her.

"Leia!" Taryn exclaimed, "The little ones are right here!"

"Sorry," Leia mumbled, shaking her head trying to remember what she was going to say. "We don't have x-ray vision, but Jedi can see certain things before they happen, it's why we have good reflexes. They can see whether they'll win or not, much of the time. Also, and most importantly, they can sense your thoughts, so they know if you're holding a good hand or not."

"They're reading my mind? No wonder… give me back my money!" Han said angrily, eyeing the boys who again stuck their tongues out at him.

"Well, they're just sensing your feelings," Leia continued, trying to make it clear. "They're not really advanced enough yet to read your mind. Now, if you were playing with my father- never do it, by the way- he would know every card in your hand. But that's different. Anyway, the boys were cheating."

"Still though, to lose to them, whether they're cheating or not I mean that power still makes them able to beat anyone," Han grumbled, not at all liking the Jedi-ness of this whole family.

"Boys, go run off, find Luke," Leia said, and the boys nodded and started to run away. "Be careful! Don't run into people," Leia yelled after them, shaking her head in amusement at her crazy little brothers.

"So do you gamble a lot?" She asked Han, not a big fan of this habit.

"Yes princess, and I enjoy it so you're going to have to accept it," Han said stubbornly.

"Excuse me?" Leia said, eyeing him seriously even though she wasn't actually that mad.

"Yeah, that's right," Han said firmly, refusing to give in.

"Nerfherder," Leia said angrily, turning away from him.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry Leia," Han said, still angry but not wanting to get Leia mad at him. "I'm just frustrated about losing to your brothers, what kind of man am I if I lose at Sabaac to a ten year old."

"I'll make you feel like a man," Leia said seductively, looking suggestively at Han and kissing him.

Rolling her eyes, Taryn turned back to Elsé, and the two began to pick out some bracelets as Han and Leia wandered over and sat on a bench, cuddling and kissing and whispering the whole way.  
"Honestly," Elsé said loudly, putting her hands on her hips. "That's not apropit."

"Appropriate, Ell," Taryn corrected her. "Yeah, it's annoying. Anyway, I-"

"Taryn!" Said a voice from across the booth. "Hey…"

It was the boy from yesterday- and now he was going to see her looking terrible after having been at the fair in the hot sun all day! And he was so cute, he had mysterious looking dark features and was taller than her (which was rare in boys around her age) and he was a year older… he was perfect, and here she was looking stupid, and in her Jedi robes… she hadn't even actually told him who she was. They kids were allowed to wear whatever they wanted at the lake house, but anytime they were in public they had to wear their robes, Jedi were never supposed to be in public out of uniform unless they were on assignment. And he was probably going to think she was some weirdo pretending to be a Jedi or something… this was awkward.

"Taryn!" Elsé said. "Say hi!"

'Great,' Taryn thought to herself ironically. 'My six year old sister is giving me advice on boys.'

"Hey Cyan," Taryn greeted, smiling self-consciously in her Jedi robes. Maybe he wouldn't know that's what they were… but if he didn't they sure looked stupid anyway, as normal clothes. "How are you."?

"You're…you're a Skywalker, aren't you," Cyan asked shyly, smiling at Taryn and looking at her robes, with a strange look of sadness, fear, and regret... "Of course, how could I have been so stupid?"

"Who is that?" Han whispered to Leia, smiling at Taryn and the boy. Han and Leia were too far away to hear the conversation, but the teenagers seemed to know each other, and the cute awkward tension was clear.

"I don't know," Leia said, completely intrigued by the boy talking to Taryn. Taryn never had boyfriends, she was too shy and a little awkward and very motivated in her studies as a Jedi. Taryn was very mature in all aspects of life, and in terms of knowledge and understanding of relationships and such, but innocent in terms of actual experience despite how beautiful she was. Sometimes Leia thought that her height and beauty made the boys her age intimidated by her…they often didn't approach her which only made Taryn think she just wasn't attractive, or she was too awkward, when really they thought she was too pretty for them… but Taryn had never been all that interested in boys either. This was a very new development. "Wait, let's go find my mom, she'd want to know Taryn has some kind of boyfriend. Maybe she knows about it," Leia said excitedly, pulling Han along with her to find Padme.

"How could you possible know who I am, just because I'm wearing robes?" Taryn asked. Even with Jedi robes, she could be anyone…and why did he have a look of remorse and sadness on his face when he said it.

"Well there's only one Jedi family that owns an estate in the lake country of Naboo," he said, still looking at her with a mix of sadness and even anger.

"I don't understand," Taryn said with concern. "What's wrong?"

"It's…Sith, I should have known meeting a beautiful girl like you was too good to be true, I really liked you," He said sweetly, still eyeing her with a look of sadness. "Here, sit down," He said, leading her to the bench where Leia and Han had just been sitting. Taryn wondered briefly where they were, but quickly forgot them and began listening to Cyan.

"Taryn, I'm going to go look at that booth over there," Elsé said, dutifully informing her older sister of where she would be. Taryn just waved her off and told her it was fine, and Elsé wandered off on her own.

………………………………………….

"That's a pretty necklace," said a strange man to Elsé as she browsed through another jewelry booth she had found.

"Thanks, its mommy's from when she was queen," Elsé said matter-of-factly, not even looking up from the rings she was eyeing.

"You have quite an imagination," he said, approaching her and eyeing the expensive looking pendant on her neck.

'What about that was imaginative?' Elsé thought to herself, giving him a weird look. "Um, thanks."

"Can I see your necklace, little princess?" He asked in a low voice, coming closer to her.

"Oh, you don't actually have to call me that, it's just a ceremonial title," Elsé stated again, still looking at the rings.

"Um, Ok… well, can I see the necklace?" He asked, looking at the huge jewel on the pendant. It had to be worth at least a thousand credits, possibly far more. Screw stealing from the stupid booths and pick pocketing, this thing was worth more than everything else in the fair put together…

"Um, no I don't take it off," she stated seriously, walking a little bit away from him.

How was he supposed to convince her to take that necklace off so he could take it from her?

"Well uh… I just wanted to see it 'cuz I have one that I think might match it really well," He mumbled. "Want to see it?"

"Hmm…what color?" She asked, not sure this man was trustworthy but intrigued by the thought of another necklace as nice as this one.

"It's green, it would match the pretty blue of that one," He said, feeling like he was getting somewhere with this.

Elsé pondered this for a minute… she wasn't supposed to wander off, but her sisters were all occupied with boys, and right now pretty jewelry interested her a lot more than boys…plus, she had her training saber, she would be fine.

"Where is it?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips and staring straight into the man's eyes.

Taken a little off guard by the little girls strength of character, he pondered just walking away for a second… she seemed totally unafraid, which usually wasn't a great sign in small girls…it usually meant they had a reason to be totally unafraid… and yet she was so tiny, and alone, and that necklace would make him rich…

"In my ship, back here, want to come see?" He asked, beckoning her to follow him. He knew this was risky, his intentions were simply to take the necklace but he knew that if he were discovered with her back in some dark corner people would assume much worse. He was a bum and a robber but he wasn't going to touch her, and this was going to look bad. But that necklace…if he could get it, it was worth it.

"What kind of ship?" She asked, priding herself in being a ship expert just like her daddy.

"A nice one, you'll see," he said, beginning to walk away and hoping she would follow.

"Bet you it's not as nice as mine, I have the newest starfighter on the market," she said, staring him down.

"You really are imaginative," He said, smiling at her. He began to think maybe he could get some ransom money if he took her- maybe this girl was really rich…he'd never really kidnapped anyone before but this opportunity seemed too good to pass up.

'Again, how is that imaginative?' Elsé thought to herself, just giving a weird look to this strange man.

"So do you want this necklace or not?" He asked, beckoning again for her to follow him.

"All right, but I have to be back soon or my sisters will wonder where I am," She said seriously, following him but at a safe distance.

'Perfect,' he thought to himself, 'no one to come find her but some other defenseless girls.'

……………………………………………………….

Leia pulled Han along as she followed her mother's Force signature to find that Padme had never actually reached Anakin, but had instead been distracted by another booth of clothes. Chewy had gone off with Bail and Zeke and they were now destroying all the high scores at the shooting range, and Han, though he had wanted to go join them as soon as Leia had decided to go find her mother to gossip about her little sister, was stuck being pulled along behind his girlfriend.

"Mother!" Leia exclaimed excitedly. "Taryn's with a boy!"

"She is?" Padme asked excitedly, glad that her daughter had found someone around whom she wasn't nervous and shy. "Who!"

"I don't know, I thought maybe you would," Leia said smiling; they were both very excited about this turn of events. "They were all awkward it was so cute."

"So she's with this guy now?" Padme asked, intrigued that her second daughter was starting to be more outgoing with the opposite gender. "Where are they?"

"Mom, you can't go spy on them," Leia reprimanded, laughing. At this moment, Han managed to sneak away without either woman noticing, and went to join Chewy and the boys at the shooting range.

"I know…I know, but Taryn has to tell me about this! Are you sure he's trustworthy? We don't know him, you know," Padme realized, starting to be worried.

"Mom, Taryn could kill him in a second if she needed to… and he probably doesn't even know that, so it would come as a surprise if he tried anything with her and she suddenly tackled him to the ground," Leia reminded her. "I think she's safe."

"You're right," Padme said distractedly, again realizing that many people recognized her and were looking at them.

"Why do you always try to pretend you're not yourself here?" Leia asked suddenly, also noticing that Padme was shying away from everyone, trying to blend into the crowd. "Why not just make it clear who you are, let them approach you… wouldn't that look better to the public?"

"It's complicated Leia…it's not a good idea to stand out here," Padme told her sketchily, purposefully vague. Leia got the idea her mother was keeping something from her.

"I… don't understand," Leia said, hoping to get at the heart of what Padme was talking about.

"You will," Padme said somewhat sadly, and Leia gave her a strange look.

"I thought this was one of the safest places in the galaxy, you're always saying that, how you like it here better than Coruscant, why would you-"

"It's not safety that's an issue, Leia," Padme said frustratedly, interrupting her. "It's more complicated than that. Just drop it, ok?"

"I thought you were supposed to be teaching me these things, why-"

But Leia's angry rant was cut off by a tall, proud, noble yet sinister looking man with dark, fearsome features, who walked over with a sneer on his face directed at Padme.

"I echo your daughter, _your highness_," he said sarcastically, in a slow, sneering voice. "Why shy away from the attention? I thought you always had enjoyed the celebrity of it all."

"You know that fame and attention was never a motivation of mine," Padme said quietly, looking at the man angrily and, to Leia's astonishment, with a look of complete familiarity.

"Why else would you have married that freak Jedi, Padme," said the man again, using Padme's first name as if it were routine. The two glared at one another. "And tied our political system into that order, if it weren't for the attention that revelation created."

"You think we wanted that…why would we have kept it a secret for all those years," Padme said again, maintaining her practiced diplomatic composure but obviously angry. "You only disagree with me because of your personal jealousy," she said, in a more proud and fierce manner than Padme had ever demonstrated to her family, or publicly, before.

"Yes, I'm very jealous how you single-handedly betrayed the planet and changed the galaxy for the worse," he sneered.

"What are you talking about?" Leia burst in haughtily. "My mother did more for this galaxy than-"

"And now you're grooming another to fall in your misplaced footsteps," He said with quiet ferocity. "Of course you are, you wouldn't want your mark to be forgotten."

"Unfortunately, the work I did can never be forgotten due to the turmoil in which the galaxy was plunged during my time in office," Padme said seriously with a touch of remorse. "I wish my work had been trivial enough to be forgotten, that this galaxy had never faced what it did."

"Don't play the humble hero Padme," He said. "You wanted to be as important as you were and you betrayed those who cared about you to get there. But what's worse is you left those who truly cared about this planet in the dust, while the rest of the galaxy hailed you as the one who saved us."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Padme continued to be strong willed, and her strength amazed Leia after all of this unfounded criticism. "I think it's sad that you verbally attack me because of your jealousy, just because you are afraid of him."

"Who?" Leia asked, though she was ignored.

"I'm afraid of no one," said the man defensively. "Even your fearsome Jedi. My family may not have freak powers but we are strong warriors and even stronger politicians. At least we were, before you betrayed our side."

"Your family is full of thieves and gangsters, and I only wish I hadn't wasted time working with you before I realized it," Padme said angrily, beginning to lose her composure. "If anything, you betrayed my trust."

"You know we did more than work together, little bird, before you corrupted your Jedi Padawan," he said, moving closer to her with a smirk on his face.

"Never," Padme said in fierce anger, "call me that again."

"Fine. But I just wanted to let you know that things are going to change very soon, and that you'll be seeing more of those of us who truly cared about the interests of the galaxy. The 'perfect' balance you've created won't last much longer. History will repeat itself," He said imposingly, standing menacingly tall over them.

"Empty threats will do nothing to ruin the happiness the galaxy now experiences, thanks to my friends and colleagues and to my family," Padme said proudly, trying to regain her composure. "We will never be afraid of you."

"Keep telling yourself that," he muttered. "Traitor."

"Believe what you will. Now leave me alone Palo."

With that, the man sneered once again and wandered away.

"What… what was-"

"Every politician has enemies, Leia," Padme muttered with a regretful and angry manner like Leia had never seen in her mother before. "Even me. If there's one thing that I teach you that you must always remember, it's that. But you must never let them steer you from what you believe."

"But you knew him," Leia said quietly, still completely shocked by what she had just overheard.

"A long time ago, yes," Padme said sadly, looking past Leia, far into the past. After a moment, she spoke again. "Never, ever, let someone else convince you that you believe in something that in reality you are against. Follow your true instincts, always…Leia, never let something that you think is love take you down a path you don't want to follow, promise me that."

"Um…ok," Leia said, still confused. "Who is he?"

"It's not important," Padme said trying to shake it off. "A political enemy. I'll explain more to you later, I promise. But don't tell your father we saw him…it would put him in a very foul mood."

"Why?"

"Many reasons. Complicated reasons. Mainly… he was a supporter of Palpatine. And a man who…I used to love."


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Again,** sorry, it's been FOREVER, I know… I've just been extremely busy…I'm going to try to get them out faster now…but the key word there is try. Anyway, I promise to make this one good so the wait was worth it! Hope you're still remembering this… I realize it's been way too long. Let me know, and enjoy

Elsé was beginning to regret the decision to follow this strange man. The main reason was that he was extremely annoying and a little crazy; he kept telling her she had quite an imagination and he was impressed by her creativity when all she would say were things like "the planet was slightly more prosperous when my mother was Chancellor, you know," and "Actually, I think my daddy holds that record, not Sebulba," – really, the most regular conversation pieces. And for a while, she had actually been amusing herself using the Force to distract him, he would look all around and wonder what had hit him and it made her giggle. However, that had gotten boring and she was beginning to get a little worried as well. Her sense of his untrustworthiness grew by the second as she followed him away from the more crowded areas of the fair and towards somewhere that she was beginning to doubt held a necklace like hers. However, she kept walking, unsure really of why, but a small part of her remained intrigued by the situation and wanted to follow. However, she gradually slowed her pace, lengthening the distance between her and the man. She figured being cautious could never hurt. Unfortunately, he noticed this, and just as she was considering turning back to go find her father the man turned back and grabbed her hand.

"Well, keep up," he muttered frustratedly, pulling her along with him, squeezing her hand so tightly that it hurt.

Elsé strove desperately to maintain her composure and twist herself free of his grasp. Using all of her strength and calling the Force to aid her, she pulled determinedly to try to get away. However, she found that she was stuck. No six-year-old girl could escape the grasp of a full-grown man, even a Jedi Padawan, even a Skywalker- it was that simple. He was just too big, and she was tiny even for a six-year-old. Just as she was going to reach for her lightsaber, he noticed her trying to pull away and picked her up, so that her arms were stuck and couldn't reach her saber. She felt panicked tears sting her eyes, mainly because she felt she was letting her father down, not being strong enough to escape. He had prepared his children from the womb to use their powers to keep themselves safe at all times, he had always had a paranoia about them being hurt since Luke and Leia had been kidnapped when they were four. And now, Elsé was scared and didn't know what to do, even though her daddy had told her how important it was to be prepared. He would be so disappointed.

"Come on," the man grumbled, picking up his pace as he sped away from the fair and brought her into a shady lot full of old, rusty ships that Elsé doubted even worked anymore.

With one last jolt of determination, Elsé summoned all her power to call her saber to her hand as his grip loosened on her. Proudly, she gave him a fierce stare as she prepared to fight back. He suddenly noticed the saber hilt in her hand and, giving her a look of astonishment, dropped her with the beginnings of some kind of exclamation or curse. However, before he could finish speaking, and just as Elsé was going to use the Force to help her land on her feet, she felt a warming presence as someone grabbed her to keep her from falling, and she saw the flash of a lightsaber strike a laser blast as the man shot his blaster in horror in attempt to save himself.

………………………………………………

_Five or so minutes earlier…_

"Hi," Anakin said lovingly, giving Padme a kiss as she, Leia, and Han walked over to join him and Luke at the bar. "Where have you been?"

"Just… around," Padme said, waving it off and telling Leia with her eyes not to say anything yet to Anakin about their encounter with Palo. "Have you had a good day?"

"Yes, although I think I just gave half of our bank account to our daughters to spend on trinkets and jewelry," He laughed, giving a somewhat ashamed, innocent look at Padme that only made her love him more. "Where are your partners in crime, by the way?" He asked Leia, noticing the absence of his other daughters.

"Still by the jewelry stand, I think," Leia informed him. "Taryn's with some boy," she said provocatively, knowing this would drive her father crazy.

"What!" Anakin asked, choking on a bit of blue stuff. "Who? Do we know him? Is he trustworthy? Since when is she hanging out with random boys? I knew Obi Wan was a bad influence on her, always off with Sabé…."  
"Oh dad, don't worry," Leia laughed, rolling her eyes as she and Padme shared an amused grin. "He's very cute."

"That's… that's supposed to make me _not_ worry?" Anakin asked, as Han started to feel very uncomfortable, being the 'boy' Anakin's other daughter was currently with.

"It seemed innocent enough," Han added, trying to be helpful.

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Anakin asked, trying to find something in that sentence to worry about as Leia gave Han a stern look.

"Better not to say anything," Padme whispered kindly to Han, smiling fondly at his awkwardness. "Making him remember your presence at this moment was not the best choice."

"Um…oh…" Han mumbled, cursing himself under his breath.

"So who is this boy, then?" Luke asked calmly, thinking to himself how he was being, as usual, the only rational one in the group.

"He's-" Leia began, but suddenly was cut off as Anakin stood up, looking straight in front of him intensely.

"Do you-?" Anakin said suddenly to Luke, darting away from them without another word.

"Yes." Luke answered, running away with him.

"Woah, how do they…" Han asked, realizing it was some Jedi thing and not finishing his stupid question. However, he was amazed at their intuition and demeanor when they were acting as Jedi- a side of them he hadn't seen since he was a boy and Luke was just four.

"What is it?" Padme asked worriedly, turning to Leia whom Padme knew would sense it as well, desperately hoping there wasn't a serious threat here.

"Elsé," Leia said, suddenly following her father and brother with Padme and Han right on her feet, Han still amazed at Leia as he often forgot she had been a Jedi herself and still was extremely powerful in the Force. It had taken Leia a little longer to notice Elsé's feelings of distress because she was not as attuned to the Force anymore as her father or brother- her feelings were not as strong as theirs. She didn't keep her senses tuned in to the Force at all times as Jedi did, because she didn't have to, but she still could sense things well when she tried, often without trying, having been quite a strong Jedi before she left the order.

"Is she ok?" Padme asked, suddenly desperately worried about her youngest daughter.

"She's scared," Leia said as they rushed in the same direction in which Anakin and Luke had just run. "She doesn't feel safe."

They ran out of the fair and arrived in a small ship parking lot just outside of the fair grounds. In a blur, they noticed Elsé being held by a strange man, and Padme's heart stopped at the sight of her daughter with this creep. Taryn was two steps in front of Anakin, obviously having sensed Elsé's distress as well and having arrived just before they did. Anakin pushed Taryn out of the way just as she ignited her saber to help, causing her to stumble backwards as he gave her an icy look of anger like she had never seen in him before. She knew she deserved it, having been in charge of Elsé, but she couldn't help feeling terrified, though awed, of her father in that moment as she watched him lunge forward, grab Elsé with one hand and block laser blasts with his light saber in the other.

In a blur, Anakin managed to gently set Elsé in her mother's arms while knocking the blaster out of the man's hand and putting his light saber at the man's throat. Padme hugged Elsé tightly to her, kissing her forehead holding her. Luke stood nearby with his saber ignited, but knew his father didn't need any help with this one.

"What," Anakin muttered viciously, glaring fiercely at the man, so frightening that even his children were eyeing one another nervously, "are you doing with my daughter?"

The man didn't speak for a moment, staring at the famous Jedi in front of him, unable to believe that this was actually happening, that Anakin Skywalker was staring him down, light saber at his neck, and that he had just tried to kidnap one of the Skywalker children right under her father's nose. He took a second to consider his bad luck that she had been a Skywalker, but all he could really focus on was his terror as he saw the rage in Anakin's eyes. It was clear that Anakin assumed the worst and also that he was a fairly merciless person in situations like this one.

"She's…she's your…." He whispered after a while, unable to make himself speak any louder.

"Luke," Anakin said, suddenly turning to Luke and de-activating his saber, nodding towards the man. For a split second the man believed he was being let free, until he (and Luke) realized what Anakin intended, and Luke jumped forward and took over the post of standing with his saber to the man's throat. Luke paused momentarily to wait and see if his father was going to instruct him further, but to everyone's surprise, Anakin uncharacteristically turned and simply walked away.

To the kidnapper, and any average onlooker, it might have seemed that Anakin was simply content to let justice on Coruscant deal with the man, and had managed to calm down. However, to his family full of Jedi, and Padme who knew him too well to think that, it was clear that rage emanated from him as he stormed away, and he was clearly trying to leave before he acted on his dangerous impulses as he had so many times in the past. He hadn't been this angry in years, and luckily, as a Jedi Master, he had actually learned to control himself as much as possible, which for him meant turning and walking away from people he cared about so that he didn't frighten them or do something foolish. He still couldn't overcome his rage, though, and was still extremely angry- Padme guessed he had gone to find Obi Wan. However, she thought it might be best if she followed, seeing as she had always been the most calming influence on him and so, though it killed her to let Ellie out of her sight ever again, she handed her to Leia.

"Don't put her down." Padme said sternly, eyeing Leia with a look of sadness for a moment before turning to follow Anakin, and Leia knew that it was clear to Padme, whether Anakin realized it or not, that she, too, had been responsible for Elsé. However Leia knew that the main reason Padme looked sad was because Padme felt that she herself should have been watching her daughter- after all, she had been the one with Leia most of that time and hadn't once asked where Elsé was, assuming she was safe with Taryn. Leia knew it wasn't her mother's fault at all, but that it would be impossible to convince her of that.

Understanding that Anakin wanted him to deal with the situation, Luke decided to take the man to the local authorities to be detained, unsure whether Anakin wanted him taken to Coruscant or not. Luke decided to interrogate the man himself to figure out what exactly had happened and who this guy was, but, unless Anakin said otherwise, he would let the Naboo sentence him themselves. With that thought, he turned and forced the man to walk in front of him, with the lightsaber to his back, as Luke had no other form of restraint.

"Are you ok?" Leia asked Elsé quietly, who nodded, sniffling as a tear fell down her cheek, more from the shock of the situation as soon as Anakin had arrived then from the 'kidnapping' itself.

"I was starting to fight back," Elsé said sweetly looking with big eyes up at her sister. "I could have done it myself but I was scared at first, so daddy thought I couldn't, is that why he's so mad?"

"No," Leia said firmly, amazed that her little sister would even think something like that. "No, of course not. He was just worried about you, he was mad at that man. He was afraid you'd get hurt."

"He was mad at me Ellie," Taryn said, the first words she had spoken since Anakin had arrived. "Because I should have been watching you. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's ok, you had to talk to your boyfriend," Elsé giggled, suddenly her old self again. "I was going to fight back, just then," she said again. "I could have done better I guess."

"Elsé," Han said, trying to help her realize how strong she truly was for a six-year-old. "You were very brave. I don't know any other kids your age who could have held their own against someone like that. I saw that look you gave him just as we got here- he was scared of you. Really."

"Ok," Elsé said unsurely, as Leia kissed her cheek and smiled up at Han as she mouthed 'thank you' to him.

"Come on lets go find them," Leia said, eyeing Taryn seriously.

"Ok," Taryn said, staring at the ground.

"Hey," Han said, trying to cheer her up. "Elsé's fine, everyone's fine…yeah you let her wander off but you sensed it before anything could happen to her. We all should have been there, don't worry."

Taryn and Leia both turned suddenly up to Han with solemn looks on their faces, as if he was a child who didn't understand the severity of a situation.

"What?" Han asked, growing slightly frustrated with the whole matter.

"He's really, _really_ mad," Taryn said, looking nervously at Leia, who couldn't even muster a reassuring glance, and then back down at the ground.

"He'll get over it," Han said, although he was beginning to sense that maybe he wouldn't.

"You don't understand," Taryn continued, suddenly going out of her silent, remorseful phase into a worried, talkative one. "When our father gets angry, like _really_ angry, like this… it's not like being in trouble with normal parents. It's like…it's like…"

"It's like everything you think or feel is negative when you are around him, like being one of his enemies for as long as it takes for him to forgive you, " Leia said, trying to make this understandable to someone not Force-sensitive. "Oh he would never hurt us," she said as Han gave her a quizzical look. "But it's almost worse. First, he'll lecture us like crazy and its not like you can just ignore like you could with normal parents… you feel it, whether you listen or not. When he's angry, the whole Force is angry. It's why he had so much trouble when he was younger controlling his anger, because of his high medichlorian count. It's why people, especially enemies, are so afraid of him, especially why the Sith both worshipped and hated him- and for us, because we share his medichlorian count and his genes, its almost painful…we've learned to subdue it in ourselves, usually, but when it's directed at you…" She looked at Taryn, biting her lip. "It's very difficult."

"That's awful," Han said quietly, suddenly feeling very sympathetic towards them, and worried as well. "It's actually painful? Like physically?"

"It's like more than mentally but less than an actual physical pain," Taryn tried to explain. "It's just… through the Force…it's kind of hard to explain."

"That's awful," Han said again, more loudly. "That seems dangerous, why does he-"

"He can't help it," Leia said quickly. "It's really not intentional. Like I said, he'll yell at her like any parent would and lecture her and knowing him he might give her the silent treatment for a day or so and most likely do something else childish for a few more days… but it's different… he can't control what he feels, and the Force is so strong in him, and us, that he brings it upon other people, especially us, without meaning to… so he'll think he's only 'feeling' angry at her when actually he's actively _being_ angry at her, and she can feel it. Again, it's hard to explain."

"Why is daddy so angry?" Elsé asked quizzically. "You all have to fight bad people sometimes and me too when I'm older, I'm being a Jedi after all."

"Yes but this was a little different, Els, you were all alone and this wasn't a fight with a political enemy or a smuggler or even one of his famous Sith encounters," Leia tried to explain. "This was just some random guy, we don't know what he wanted…" she said, eying Taryn nervously.

"My necklace, I think," Elsé said. "That's what he was thinking, I think. He said he had another but I think really he just wanted mine."

"I hope so," Leia said, suddenly spotting the boys playing holo games at one of the booths with Chewy. When the felt her presence they turned and trotted towards her when she was still several meters away, to the amazement of Han and a confused Chewy, who turned when his playing partners were suddenly gone.

"Why's dad so angry?" Bail asked casually, eating some kind of candy.

"Did he come through here?" Han asked, as they had been looking for them all for some time.

"No," Bail said, giving Han a weird look. "Trust me, if he was coming anywhere near us in the mood he's in right now, we would've hidden."

"Then how-oh…" Han realized, again, that they could sense their father's feelings. "You can tell from far away? Can you tell anyone's mood like that?"

"No," Zeke answered, also eating candy. "But with dad, it's hard not to notice."

"Come on," Leia said, pushing her brothers in front of her and forcing them to walk towards their father's Force signature. "Let mom explain it to you."

"Fine," they agreed grudgingly, walking slowly towards their father.

"He's mad at you, isn't he?" Bail asked, noticing Taryn's sullen look and nervous Force signature. "Did he catch you with your boyfriend?" He teased, as Zeke laughed.

"Shut up," Taryn said, actually angry as she glared at her brother. "Now is _not_ the time."

"Was he mad cuz he saw you guys kissing?" Bail asked provocatively as Zeke howled with laughter.

"Bail!" Taryn exclaimed angrily, taking out her light saber only to be met immediately by his blade.

"Stop," Leia instructed immediately, Force pulling the blade out of Bail's hand and deactivating it.

"Woah," Han said quietly, smiling at Leia.

"Leia!" Bail whined, as she threw it back to him and he reluctantly clipped it to his belt. "I'm not going to forget that when I'm stronger than you."

"Great, so when I die then, you can remind me," she teased him.

"Actually, dad says I'm already a better fighter than you," Bail said, sticking his tongue out. "And if I study the Force more, I'll be better."

"Exactly," Leia said. "And have you ever studied in your life?"

"I'll still be stronger in the Force than you, you'll see," Bail mumbled, continuing to walk towards his father even though Taryn's blade was still ignited next to him. It had become fairly casual in the Skywalker family to have someone angrily threaten you with a lightsaber, and they didn't notice it as much any more.

"Taryn," Leia said sternly, though she felt compassion for her sister. Anyone about to face Anakin's wrath was bound to have a little angry energy they needed to expend. Grudgingly, Taryn deactivated her saber and clipped it back to her belt.

"So what'd you do?" Bail asked again, smirking at her.

"It's not funny, really, Bail," Taryn said seriously, and he could tell it was time to shut up.

"Sorry," Bail said sincerely, and Taryn nodded in acceptance. Before they realized it, they were standing in front of Anakin and Padme.

"Home." Came Anakin's voice suddenly, as he stared at all of his children, still clearly very angry. With that, he turned suddenly, his robes whipping around, and headed for the lake house.

"Home home? Or Naboo home," muttered Zeke, as they all looked at one another questioningly.

"The lake house, go. Stay together," Said Padme quietly, taking Elsé back from Leia and giving Elsé's hands to the boys to hold her hands in between them, then pushing them along towards their speeders. Han and Chewie followed, leaving Padme, Leia, and Taryn behind.

"I'm not mad at you, just disappointed," Padme said beginning to walk towards the speeders and motioning for them to come with her. "And I'm not going to lecture you, because I know your father will more than take care of that. I just hope you realize…that all of you aren't invincible. I know you all have a lot of independence, including the little ones, because of your powers, and I know Ellie is able to protect herself…but because of that we tend to forget that she's a six-year-old. We've always been like that, because we want you to be able to rely on yourselves. And Ellie doesn't need to have her hands held all the time- but just don't forget about her, that's all. Just make sure you check all of your siblings' feelings, or whatever you do, every once in a while. Make sure they're nearby if they're supposed to be, ok? She probably would have been able to escape on her own, but…she's still very small," Padme finished, looking down sadly.

"Of course we realize," Leia said, squeezing her mother's hand reassuringly. "But she's ok now. And we'll be safer in the future, I promise."

"I know," Padme said. "I just… I know you all face so much danger because of me and your father, I'm so sorry about that, but-"

"But that wasn't because of you," Taryn said. "He was just some random guy, he didn't know who she was."

"I know," Padme said. "If you had let me finish…it's that kind of person that scares me even more. If he had no political agenda with her, if he didn't know what kind of money he could have gotten as a ransom…then what _did _he want with a six-year-old girl?"  
"I think he just wanted her necklace, really," Taryn said, trying to be reassuring.

"Maybe," Padme said. "But I just hope you realize what could've happened. Because she certainly doesn't understand those things, which is why she needs her older sisters to look out for her when I ask you to."

"I know," Taryn said. "I'm sorry. And we do realize what could happen to her, it scares me too."

"It's not just her you know," Padme said, suddenly looking up at Leia and Taryn. "I worry about you two as well- I realize, as you always remind me, you could 'kill anyone within a second' but just know who to trust and who not to trust, you might not always realize if someone is taking advantage of you, you know?"

"Yes mother," They both said, smiling at Padme. She was now plunging in to one of her worried motherly lectures that she gave them quite often, and so they now felt that she had moved on from the specific incident and so they relaxed a little. Now that they were on familiar ground, they knew what to say ("yes mom. We won't. We understand.") to reassure her. As she continued to warn them against all the evils of the universe, Taryn spaced out (a feat that was possible with Padme) and tried to prepare herself to face her father…

'You'll be ok,' Leia said reassuringly through the Force while nodding at Padme. 'I promise, I will take as much of the blame as is mine. I'll be with you, ok? It will be fine.'

'Right,' Taryn said, taking a deep breath. 'Thanks. I hope so.'


	19. Chapter 18

**Hi! Again, I apologize for how long it's been… I've been so busy. Anyway, for those of you who've been wondering about all the loose threads I weaved into this story, these next few chapters are going to make the plotline all come together-even plotlines from my first two stories will become clearer…and I actually go on a VERY long tangent (an interesting and relevant one, don't worry) about Padme's past that I made up but tied in to the movies, because they don't tell us enough about her (I don't read the books I don't know if they do, but the movies don't, so hopefully you like my version…plus my story already has changed the movies from the beginning of III on)… I hope you enjoy it, let me know cuz I'm taking a risk here giving this huge back story!**

**Ch. 18**

"So suddenly boys you hardly know are more important than your little sister?" Anakin fumed, yelling at his oldest daughters who stood before him, practically cowering. They knew that there was no point trying to defend themselves just yet- he was so angry he wouldn't even hear them. Plus, they really were guilty of letting Elsé wander off, and there was no real defense for that- however, Padme hadn't been lying when she had talked about how they let the kids be very independent because of their powers. It wasn't as if Elsé hadn't wandered around innocent places like Naboo festivals by herself millions of times before, not to mention flown around in her own training starfighter in open space when her parents were supposed to be watching her, this time it was simply her sisters' bad luck that something bad had happened. Thankfully they had all gotten there in time to rescue Elsé, and truly there wasn't a possibility they wouldn't have gotten there in time because they all could sense her distress fairly quickly…but Anakin was still extremely angry. His anger emanated from the Force, invading Taryn and Leia's own feelings and taking them over, making their guilt one hundred times worse. "Do you realize what could have happened?" He thundered frighteningly, staring into their eyes.

"Yes," they whispered, nodding and looking down, the fully grown women acting like little children.

"I can't even believe you two let yourselves get so distracted with those boys that you would totally ignore your little sister. She doesn't understand how dangerous the universe can be, that's why she needs you to watch her when we ask you to. I don't even want to think about what would have happened had we not been there in time…" He drifted off, still seething in anger, but also looking sad and scared as he stared at his other two precious daughters, and they knew he was thinking about how worried he was for all of them as they became more independent and led their own lives, away from his control.

"Dad, we're so sorry," Leia said sincerely. "Really, it was completely irresponsible."

Anakin just stared at her, fuming.

"But," Taryn said timidly, and Leia shot her a fiery look warning her not to go on with that contradiction. "But, we could sense her feelings the whole time. As soon as she began to get scared, I was there."

"That doesn't make the situation any more acceptable," Anakin growled, staring angrily at Taryn. "She's six years old. She might not know when to get scared. Someone might have hurt her before she started to feel scared. She might be perfectly fine until the second someone touches her, and then it would be too late, wouldn't it, Taryn Ellanore Skywalker?"

"You have a middle name?" Leia whispered very quietly to Taryn.

"Yeah," Taryn mumbled back, unflinchingly staring at her father. "Don't you?"

"No…" Leia whispered, frowning momentarily.

"Do you understand me young lady? She was your responsibility you know," He was now about one inch from Taryn's face staring at her with fierce eyes.

"Why?" Taryn challenged, a very bad idea as Leia expressed by burying her face in her hand as soon as Taryn said it.

"Excuse me?" Their father responded, towering over them menacingly.

"Why was she solely my responsibility?"

"You were the only one left with her, weren't you?" Anakin challenged back, in disbelief that the child who was normally the most diligent and respectful was being so combative today. "What's gotten into you Taryn? You're normally so…"

"So what? What dad? Yeah, I was left with her 'cuz mom, and you, and Leia and everyone else all wandered off," Taryn said angrily, and she stood up, staring into her father's eyes. She hesitated for a moment, almost backing out of her stand, but then confidently stared back at him, also seething in an anger that Leia and Anakin did not understand. "As you all _always_ do. I always am the one who has to worry about everything, I'm the one who's _so_ good and _so_ responsible and _so _perfect."

"Taryn, I-" Anakin tried to interrupt, actually speaking more softly to try to calm her down.

"No, I'm sick of it. I hate the way people see me. I hate being the perfectly behaved, scholarly, non-rebellious member of the family. Everyone else practically gets away with murder but the second I step out of line everyone freaks out because I'm usually so good. You all go out causing chaos and tension in the galaxy but somehow manage to make almost everyone love you and see you as heroes, while I actually try to be calm and peaceful and actually become a Jedi by studying and not by flirting with the dark side, and yet no one even pays any attention to m. I always have to be the quiet, studious, perfect Padawan, meticulous in studying and in physical training, always working, and everyone thinks I'm so happy, I'm destined to be the youngest knight ever, that that's all I care about, but no one ever bothers to _ask_ me do they? No one ever gives me the option to go out with them or skip some studying like everyone else does to maybe get to do the exciting, active parts of missions for a change, or actually _meet_ someone else my _age_ do they? I hardly have any friends because you all just leave me to baby-sit all the time and Obi Wan just leaves me for days because he just _knows_ I'll study without him, and of course I do because it's what's expected of me and I've been stuck with that my whole life. And then I come here, and I finally find a boy who's actually interested in me and wants to be with me, and not only do I ruin everyone's lives by losing my little sister to some crazy kidnapper and get all the blame for that, but it has to happen right after I find out that I can't ever be with the one guy who ever payed any attention to me because his family is an enemy of our family. He loves me one day then finds out who I am and immediately turns all mean and cold and tells me that we can never be together because he's supposed to hate me, because his family hates us… hates YOU!"

In tears, Taryn ran from the room with lightning speed that was clearly Force induced, seeing as her Force signature became almost undetectable very quickly, meaning she had gotten very far away in a very short amount of time. Leia and Anakin stared at each other in disbelief, silently trying to process what they had just heard. Padme came rushing in a minute later, having seen Taryn go running by her in tears as she waited for them out on the porch.

"Anakin, what did you say to her?" Padme asked, tears in her eyes as well to see her daughter so upset, especially since she currently believed that her husband had been far to harsh and had brought on Taryn's misery. Padme stared up at Anakin in disbelief, and he was hurt that she thought he could be so cruel as to cause something like that.

"I…I don't…" He mumbled, unsure of how to explain it.

"Mom," Leia said suddenly, turning to her mother with a questioning look. "That awful man we ran into… Pab.. Palo, was it?"

Padme bit her lip and nodded, not daring to look at Anakin's shocked face as he heard that name, and that they had run into him.

"Does he have a son?" Leia asked, the only one to be able to put all of the pieces together, as she was the only one who had seen the boy and Palo, and had also been witness to Taryn's outburst.  
"Palo?" Anakin said, turning on Padme angrily. "You saw him and you didn't tell me?"

"Please, Anakin calm down, please," Padme begged, and he seemed to calm a bit, Padme still being the only thing in the universe that could calm Anakin Skywalker down when he was truly angry. "I knew you would react like this, I didn't want you to have to know."

"Padme, what did he say to you? You know that I get angry because I worry about how badly he treats you, not because I'm mad at you," He tried to explain, and Padme did already understand that, and had for some time. "You know that, Padme. You know that right?"  
"I know," she said quietly, looking into his eyes and trying to find the innocent look Anakin still got in them when he was demonstrating calm and compassion rather than anger and ferocity. Somehow her gaze always managed to probe deep into his mind, it seemed to be able to pull his true self out of the angry exterior every time she stared at him like that- something that had truly kept him from turning to the dark side all those years ago.

He stared at her for a minute, breathing heavily after his tirade, and his breathing began to return to normal and his facial expression, having been completely tensed up in anger, relaxed.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you would worry, I didn't think it would matter… at least, I hoped it wouldn't, but now, clearly…" Padme trailed off, staring out the door past Taryn.

"What did he say to you? He didn't send that sithspawn out just to break Taryn's heart and pull our family apart did he? It wasn't some horrible plan of theirs was it?" Anakin asked, beginning to get angry again as conspiracy theories filled his head.

"Anakin," Padme said sternly, staring at him to calm him again. "I don't think that-"

"No dad, you heard her," Leia interjected. "And I saw him, I saw the way he looked at her, that was a look of innocent affection, not of twisted manipulative motive… he's just a boy, and in fact I feel bad for him. From what I observed of Palo it's clear that boy is being raised in a terrible environment, one of deceit and misconception."

Anakin turned to Leia, momentarily forgetting everything else and smiling at her, a look that caused Padme and Leia to turn to one another incredulously.

"What?" Leia asked suspiciously, very put off that her father was suddenly peaceful and smiling at her.

"Nothing, you just, the way you talk… you're starting to sound more and more like your mother…you're going to be a very good politician," Anakin said simply.

"Thanks…" Leia said, giving a smile to her father, as Padme smiled at him, that comment having touched her deeply- the fact that he truly appreciated her was never in question, but it always made her feel good to hear him say things like that.

"Anyway…what exactly _did_ Palo say?" Anakin asked, again turning to the serious matter at hand.

"Oh Anakin I don't really remember," Padme said- truly, anytime she did encounter Palo (though she tried to make those occurrences as rare as possible) he gave the same basic speech- heavy criticism, disgusting flirtation hinting at their past life together… "You know, just like he always does- horrible criticism of my accomplishments, accusing me of betraying the planet's interests, clearly just talk because I can still see him quake even if I mention you…he's just a coward Anakin, and he's terrified of you, that's why he only verbally attacks me but never actually takes a stand…"

"I swear to you, I will kill him one day, and his whole family," Anakin mumbled angrily. It was unacceptable to him that anyone would treat his wife that way- especially the only man other than him with whom Senator Amidala had ever been deeply in love. The first time they were in the Lake Country together, when Padme had been in hiding after the assassination attempts, she had told him that the first boy she had kissed had been named Palo, and he had teased her and thought nothing of it except that he was embarrassed, as a Jedi Padawan, to have never kissed a girl. However, he soon learned a lot more about Palo than he ever wanted to-years after that first kiss, Padme and Palo had become very seriously involved. After Anakin had married Padme, Palo's name came up again, when he had inquired about another, more intimate first of Padme's. And that time, she had not been so ready to divulge the information. In fact, she had lied to him, telling him instead that her first had been the one other truly serious boyfriend she had ever had (and even though Padme had started dating this man when she was nearly 24, Anakin was innocent enough to accept this explanation unquestioningly) - a much nicer story, he was a prince from Alderaan, perfectly charming and gentlemanly, he had proposed fairly quickly into the relationship and she had actually accepted, even though they were not even that seriously involved- it just worked out nicely, a prince and a former queen. However, as much of a field day for the press as that engagement would have been, they never learned of it, for Padme couldn't help but feel trapped in the relationship- she just felt no passion for him, they weren't in love, they only dated for about six months. She backed out of the engagement literally one week before she re-met Anakin in her apartment after ten years, and her prince respectfully never spoke a word of it to the press, and in fact the two remained friends, both happily married to other people. The story had been perfect too because she had been able to tell Anakin that she had been so hesitant to start in a relationship with him because she had just gotten out of a serious one (However, though she would never tell Anakin this, that wasn't really the reason she was so hesitant to be with him- and neither were the things she had said at the fireplace).

Anakin had accepted this for quite some time, until, when studying the history of politics several months later with Obi Wan, he had come across Palo's name, mentioned briefly, as a supporter of Palpatine and associate of Padme's. Seeing that Padme had worked with him so much more recently than Anakin had ever known, Anakin could just sense that there was something about Palo that Padme wasn't telling him- and so he asked her. Staring at her husband's innocent, questioning eyes, Padme had decided that someone she loved as much as Anakin deserved to know about her relationship, both professional and personal, with Palo, the real truth of which there was no record and almost no one knew:

Palo had been Padme's first boyfriend when she was 12 and 13, and he had been 15. They had fun, however they broke up peacefully when Padme was elected queen and Palo began to work with Palpatine as a Senator's aid- with Palo on Coruscant and Padme on Naboo, it simply made sense not to be together. They still were in contact occasionally, just professionally, but never spoke otherwise; they simply had no reason or time to do so. However, when Padme's two terms were up as queen, the new queen asked Amidala almost immediately to serve as Senator. Once in Coruscant, Padme began to see Palo all the time, and their relationship quickly became very intense. At first it was wonderful, they were completely in love and happy, they worked together and accomplished great things in the Senate, along with the now Chancellor Palpatine, and Naboo was very prosperous. Palo took her on fabulous trips all over the universe and for two years Padme was happier than she had ever been- until she married Anakin.

However, tensions began to rise between the two of them for many reasons- Palo became slightly jealous of Padme's success in the senate, much of which he had helped her to earn- she got all of the fame and spotlight, and he got almost no acknowledgement from the public. And most importantly, Padme got all of Palpatine's praise, while Palo was his biggest supporter and knew that Padme secretly questioned Palpatine's motives. Also their political views began to deviate and soon all they did was argue. Palo became abusive- not largely so, but when they argued he often hit Padme and storm off. However, she truly loved him, and would let him hurt her, trying to convince him she still cared about him, that she didn't want to argue- but she would secretly cry to herself about how terrible the relationship was becoming.

Eventually, Palpatine sensed that his precious Amidala was unhappy, a fact that he knew would cause his empirical plot to backfire- he needed her supportive and confident to manipulate the Skywalker boy. So Palpatine all but fired Palo, sending him back to Naboo with unimportant Senate paperwork to do, a huge demotion. Palo sulked bitterly on Naboo, thinking only of how Padme and Palpatine had betrayed him, when he was Palpatine's biggest supporter. She would still visit Palo out of pity, feeling somewhat responsible for what had happened to him- she had loved him so much that she couldn't help but feel bad for him, and so she would let him take advantage of her. Whenever they were alone, much to Sola's (the only person who knew the truth about them) horror, Palo was abusive and cruel, and yet Padme had convinced herself she could make him agree with her and continued to go back to him. Eventually, her sister convinced her that she was being naïve and stupid to think she could get Palo to see her point of view and come back to her like the loving man he had been, and so Padme, with Sola's help, finally walked away and never saw him again.

She became a highly confident and successful Senator and Palo watched her career in disgust while getting involved in local politics and trying to be forgotten so that he could emerge later as a political figure- however he had little success. In fact he was behind many assassination attempts on Padme, and she knew it, though she would never tell anyone. She knew he didn't actually want her to die- he knew when she used decoys, he had been one of the people in charge of that, and he usually had them killed and not her, and it drove her mad with anger- he was killing her best friends, but not her. And yet she couldn't tell anyone, there was no proof. Eventually, the ones she could pinpoint as his assassination attempts stopped, and he seemed to disappear. She was almost able to forget about him- but never completely. He was probably the reason she had dated the boring prince, and accepted his proposal at first- she felt safer not feeling that passion for anyone, just being with a man she knew was good and didn't have strong enough opinions or feelings to ever hurt her. However, she broke it off knowing that she could never be happy like that.

When she finally found Anakin, she loved him from the first time he kissed her- but she was also afraid of him. The real reason that Senator Amidala had been so hesitant to be with Padawan Skywalker was that Anakin reminded her too much of Palo. The ferocity of his feelings, the intensity with which he looked at her- and all of this backed by a power that Palo never had, made her feel truly uncomfortable, moreso than Anakin would ever understand. However she saw in Anakin vulnerability Palo didn't have, and she grew to trust him. Most importantly, she knew that everything Anakin said was truthful and honest- he had never been taught to be deceitful- he was not a politician. And she realized that it was unfair to Anakin for her to be so deceitful- and so she let herself fall in love with him, and eventually was able to forget Palo and feel safe and loved always. It was thanks to Palo's awful treatment that she could be strong dealing with Anakin's dark phases- and it was thanks to her faith in Anakin's honesty that she always knew that her loving husband was hiding behind Anakin's anger.

When she began the rebellion and her Jedi friends overthrew his idol, Palo went even more crazy- he truly saw Padme as a traitor to the whole galaxy and to Naboo, especially to him and his cohorts who helped her to get to her position of power. As the rest of the galaxy celebrated her and the Jedi, he and his family and supporters plotted against her. What Padme had never known was that Palo had known of Palpatine's true identity- and had supported it. She learned this when Palo actually told her himself, trying to demonstrate that he was closer to Palpatine and stronger in politics than she knew- he had been secretly working for the Sith when Padme had thought he was doing useless work on Naboo. However when the Sith were overthrown Palo had nothing, and when he learned of Padme's marriage to Anakin Skywalker he stopped bothering her- he knew of Palpatine's strength, and was afraid of the man who overthrew the Sith lord. Years went by, and Padme began to run into him again on Naboo, the reason she always tried to remain inconspicuous there. However, he would simply criticize her, but she knew he wouldn't touch her. Anakin knew almost the full story, though she had left certain parts of it out when she told him especially the part about how he had reminded her of Palo. The children, of course, knew nothing of it, and unfortunately Leia had had to witness a very unpleasant encounter with him, and now of course was full of questions.

"She can't...she can't… if he has a son," Padme said, almost beside herself, tears in her eyes. She knew how charming Palo's family could be, he had brothers and all were very cute and gentlemanly at first- she was certain his son exuded this same charm over Taryn, and the very thought of her little girl enduring the same thing she had was unbearable. "I can't let her…"

She couldn't speak anymore, and for the first time in almost twenty-five years, and the first time Anakin had ever seen, Padme began truly crying over what she had endured with Palo.

"Shh," he said immediately, embracing her tightly and stroking her back comfortingly. "It's not the same Padme, I promise. She's not going to go through that, ok?"  
Padme bit her lip, nodding as she looked away from Anakin, trying to calm herself down.

"Hey, look at me…I promise you," He said firmly, turning her chin up towards him and looking her in the eyes. "Ok?"

Padme nodded, collecting herself somewhat and then remembering that Leia was with them.

"What…what uh…?" Leia mumbled, staring in disbelief at her mother. It was obvious what she wanted to know.

"Anakin… go try to find Taryn. Make sure she didn't run off to find that boy," Padme said worriedly, and Anakin nodded. "I'll… I'll tell Leia, about… about him."  
"Wait," Leia said suddenly. "Before you go- I remember something he said. I think it might be important. I sensed extreme sincerity and menace when he said it."  
"What?" Anakin said immediately, focusing all of his attention on Leia.

"He said that history would repeat itself… and he made several threats as well, he said something about how the balance we've created wouldn't last…" Leia said, and Anakin suddenly turned to Padme.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" He asked her, concerned but slightly angry just out of worry.

"They're just empty threats Anakin," she said weakly, still after all of this time truly believing (or wishing to believe) that he didn't mean to hurt her or her family. "He's afraid of you."  
"Mom you don't understand," Leia said adamantly. "He was serious, I could sense it."

"He helped the Sith rise to power before…" Anakin said ominously, staring at Padme.

"Anakin you killed them both- how could there be another? It's been fifteen years since there were any Sith in the galaxy," Padme said tiredly, truly believing the threats to mean nothing.

"Well maybe there's no Sith but…Padme, the reason we were going to Tatooine was to investigate trade disputes-smugglers had been shooting at peaceful ships in open space around Tatooine," Anakin said quickly, a thought flow going through his mind.

"And?" Padme asked, not seeing how this was related at all to Palo.

"The last time there was a threat in the galaxy, did we not have our ship shot at and have to go to Tatooine to get the part and investigate?"

"I-"

But Anakin continued before she could even respond. "Did that not draw our whole family to Tatooine? And is this not the exact same thing? What if Palo helped Plaegus organize that the last time…and now he's doing it again- our whole family except you and the little ones was going to Tatooine… maybe they were plotting to harm us there, or to do something that drew us into battle with Palo's supporters, you know his family and compatriots trade and gamble with the Hutts…maybe they are more powerful than we think. "

"Anakin, maybe, but would he go to this much effort just to get revenge on me?"

"It's not only about you, he truly believes in his political ideals, he wants to se the Sith back in power because their the only ones who ever held him in high regard…"

"I-"

"Look I'll let it go for now…but I'm going to figure this out. I'll go get Obi Wan and we'll find Taryn. You… you tell Leia…everything. See if she agrees with me."

With that, Anakin stormed off to find Obi Wan, now with a mission to investigate, as Padme turned toward her daughter smiling weakly.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions…This is going to be very difficult to hear, and difficult for me to tell, but I guess you are entitled, after witnessing what you have today, to hear about… Palo…" and with that Padme struggled through reliving her rocky relationship with Palo so that her daughter could understand how dangerous a force not yet experienced by the talented ex-Jedi could be- love.


	20. Chapter 19

So yea… its been years, I know because I just kind of left this and forgot about it

**So yea… its been years, I know because I just kind of left this and forgot about it. But I got several reviews recently asking me to continue this story, so I re-read all my stories and was like oh yea this was fun! And I randomly felt like continuing it, so if anyone is still reading… enjoy, and let me know what you think! Also, reading through it made me realize there were some sort of glaring content discontinuities in this particular story, this third series, because I was writing it more quickly and just letting it flow (so there are parts where someone like witnesses a conversation and then in the next fic I wrote it like they didn't know that information yet)- so for things like that, I apologize but I was just having fun when I wrote this one so just go with it I guess, the others were a bit more organized I'll admit. Anyway… enjoy!**

"What are you doing here?" Said a cold, sneering, yet somehow sad voice.

"You say you can't be with me because you hate my family. Well…I hate them too, does that help?" Taryn answered, still out of breath from the two miles she had just run to get from her family's estate to The Eccietari estate- Palo's family's. She smiled up at him sheepishly, and a confused but somewhat relieved smile passed over his face.

"Taryn, I…I would love to be able to hang out with you, but- you say you hate your family now, I wish it were that simple but- just because your angry at them…with my family, and your roots…I'm just not sure-"  
"Cyan, you were telling me the other day how much you hated it here, well, if neither of us are happy, then…I mean, maybe we should fix that…?"

"What are you saying…" He stared at her, confused and intrigued.

"Let's run away. I don't even want to be Jedi any more I'm so, _so_ sick of them, and you hate how political your family is, let's just go away from it all."

"Taryn, I…we can't, do you realize what you're saying? My family frustrates me, yes, but I have a home here, and you have your own, and you aren't exactly a low-profile person, I don't think we'd get very far without someone seeing you or your family full of crazy psychic people sensing where you are." Cyan stared at her intently- this girl intrigued him so much, he hated that she had to be from the one family he had been raised to loathe. And yet, here she was saying she hated her family, and wanted to get away- and he, too, hated his families political agendas and anger at so many people…he just wanted to lead a simple life, and here was a girl telling him the exact same thing.

"No, don't you see? We can disguise ourselves, and if I get far enough away my family can't sense me- I can get out of reach of their force senses… easily!"  
"And just how far would we have to go so that Anakin Skywalker can't sense his own child…?" Cyan eyed her suspiciously- a sheepish glance from Taryn at the word 'easily' had told him this was likely a white lie.

"About… about seven or eight systems…and, I mean, only if he's looking." She looked at the ground, biting her lip.

"Right, and when his daughter runs away there's a _great_ chance he won't be looking for her. Taryn… this is crazy, I like you but I cannot go against everything I've been brought up to believe, I love my father despite his clearly misguided opinions about some people…I don't know." Cyan crossed his arms defiantly. It really was crazy… and yet, to a seventeen year old boy running away with a beautiful girl to a life of excitement and leisure did seem quite appealing. And the fire in her eyes told him how ready she was to do it.

"Come on, don't you see, it's the perfect thing to do! We will be able to do whatever we want, get away from the constraints our families have put on us without having to actually speak out against them or hurt them or whatever, come _on_! I just…I just need to live my own life for once, ok? Come on, what do you say?" She looked at him with almost a desperation in her eyes. She knew how crazy she sounded, really she did, but she couldn't help it. In this moment she was so furious with her family, with the responsibility that had always been shoved on her since she was a child and the notoriety she could not escape… this just seemed like such a perfect plan. She would miss them- oh Force, she _would_ miss them, but she had never been angrier or more insulted by her father, nor more frustrated by her family, and she just _could not go back._ If Cyan didn't come with her… sith, she would run off by herself. But, it would be way more fun if he came…

"Taryn…how could I…I can't just-"

"Cyan, before you even knew who I was, when I told you I had been to 114 planets, didn't you tell me how much you wished to see the universe? How jealous you were that I got to travel while your family forced you to stay between Tatooine and Coruscant working and never getting to just be a kid, to explore!? This is your chance, I am standing here in front of you, a fabulous pilot if I do say so myself, with _my own ship_ mind you, ready to explore, so why not?" Taryn realized she was sounding crazier and crazier with every word. The realization of what she was proposing here was hitting her and she was actually starting to scare herself a bit. But, the excitement of the idea kept her going, and she stared at him with a ferocity that could only come from the eyes of a child of Anakin Skywalker.

"Um…well…" He looked at her, a beautiful girl trying to hand him a ticket out of here to explore the galaxy with her, and suddenly, in a split second, wondered why in sith's name he was saying no. "Ok."

"Really?!" She almost didn't believe he had agreed.

"Yea!" He said getting more excited. "Force, why not?!"

She smiled, and he grabbed her and kissed her passionately. With that, she pulled his hand and the two crazy, love-struck teenagers ran to 'Taryn's' ship (a small cruising ship from her Naboo family's hangar she had "traded" her starfighter for by leaving it in its place) and soared off (at break-neck speed that amazed and intimidated Cyan) into the stars.

Anakin ran out to find Taryn, but for reasons he could not figure out, he couldn't sense her anywhere. She must have blocked her force signature pretty strongly from him. It suddenly hit him how angry she really was. Had he known, had he only known she felt so trapped he wouldn't have demanded so much of her. But he had thought, as all of them had, that she loved what she was doing, that she wanted that extra pressure they gave her because of how much she excelled at everything. He may have been prouder than her of any of his children because she was the one who didn't take after him in being distracted, who really devoted herself and worked hard not just at the fun parts but at the really grueling parts of being a Jedi as well.

And Anakin knew, too, that as passionately frustrated as Taryn felt that particular day she truly did enjoy her studies, her hard work. And he realized, somewhat guiltily and sadly, that it probably was that extra pressure they placed on her to help take care of the kids, to organize, to keep track of the whole family's lives, that had pushed her to this edge. Angry as he was at his girls, and himself, for letting Elsé wander off, he realized that he had been too harsh on Taryn, and it really wasn't her fault. Standing there in the yard, stumped, he had been paying no attention to his surroundings and for once in his life, Anakin Skywalker was surprised by someone walking up behind him.

"What in Sith's name," Obi Wan huffed angrily, "did you say to my Padawan, Anakin? I felt her presence more enraged than ever before. And not scared, remorseful anger as if you had just lectured her as I expected you to, but real, passionate anger at everything around her. What happened?"  
"I…I…" Anakin fumbled around trying to figure out how to explain everything Taryn had just yelled at her parents in the past minute. "I think we may be pushing her too hard…"

"What?" Obi Wan was just confused now.

With that, Anakin told Obi Wan what she had said to them.

"I- I had no idea she felt that way," Obi Wan muttered, feeling the same guilt Anakin did that perhaps he had been expecting her to act too much like an adult and often forgetting she was just a sixteen year old girl.

"And Obi Wan, the boy… we think it was Palo's son…" Anakin said, a hurt and scared look in his eye.

"Really!?" Obi Wan asked intently. He was truly worried for the first time for his young Padawan. Any danger she faced he normally hardly sweated over for she was so strong. But this kind of emotional distress coupled with being a sixteen year old, especially as she was, of course, Anakin's daughter, meant that she probably was going to do something very rash. And Palo's son thrown into the mix did not help matters. Anakin nodded.

"Well," Obi Wan said, trying to get down to business, "We'd better go find her."

Leia stared at her mother, tears in her eyes for how much Padme had had to endure. Padme had just told Leia the whole story of her relationship with Palo, and Leia had an even greater respect and love for her mother now, if that were possible.

"Now do you understand why I worry so much about you? You always say how smart and level headed you are, how you won't get yourself involved in anything that is bad for you…but I was smart and level headed as well, Leia. Sometimes, somehow, when love is involved, you just don't even realize what you are letting yourself get into…"

"Mom, I…I had no idea," Leia hugged her mother and layed her head on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"Leia it is no use to be sorry now, it is in the past and I am so happy now that if that relationship was the toll I had to pay to find this amazing one I am in now, that it was worth it. But your father shared many of his traits, which is why I was so hesitant with him at first…" Padme smiled mischievously at her daughter. "I guess I just need the thrill, boring men just don't do it for me."

"Mom!" Leia laughed, sort of shocked at her mother's suggestiveness. She shoved her playfully. She then turned to her much more seriously to put the matter to rest, as she could sense her mother wished to. "I promise though, after hearing that… I will be extremely cautious who I involve myself with. I dunno, Han seems all right though, huh?" She smiled up at her mother.

"I think he's a good man. Certainly not a saint though, which I suppose is why he's charming."

"I guess I just need the thrill too," Leia said, raising an eyebrow evocatively.

"Leia please, I am still your mother I do not need to know that." Padme said, crossing her arms, but Leia could tell she was smiling. "Now… maybe you should go find your sister. I realized after sending your father it might not have been the best idea."

"Actually, I was going to say this a moment ago but what's really weird is that I cannot sense Taryn _anywhere_…" Leia said, biting her lip. "Hopefully that just means she's shielding her force signal really well, because she doesn't want to be found, I wouldn't worry."

"What are you talking about? Clearly, you are worried… Leia, what do you think she did?" Padme asked, suddenly very worried.

"No, nothing," Leia said, not wanting to stress her mother more. "Really, let's go find everyone else and I'm sure Taryn will turn up when she's calmed down."

Leia and Padme walked out of the small sitting room in which they had been talking and out through the kitchen to the courtyard. Bail, Zeke, and Elsé were running around under the watchful eye of most of the rest of the extended family. Elsé ran to her mother and Padme picked her up and kissed her lovingly.

"Is Taryn in big, big trouble? She was so upset a while ago!" Bail yelled, walking over to his mother and sister.

"Bail, Zeke, Ellie, let's leave Taryn alone ok, she's sorry for what she did and Daddy's not mad anymore," Padme said to them. "Let's put what happened today at the back of our heads, remember to be careful with any strangers, and just play, ok?"

"Ok!" Yelled the boys, who went back to wrestling in the grass. Leia chose this moment, in which her mother was absorbed playing with Elsé, to sneak off and find Luke.

"You think she flew away too?" Luke said without turning around as Leia walked up behind where he was meditating out by the lake.

"I mean, her force signature faded quickly but it did not disappear as if she had suddenly blocked it…" Leia said, used to her brother being able not only to sense her presence but to know exactly what she was thinking before she even made a noise.  
"I agree. I think she got out of here really fast…" Luke now turned around and stared at his twin. "What did dad say to her?"  
"Really, just what you would expect, but I think Taryn had a lot more going on with her than we realized…" Leia explained to Luke what Taryn had said, and he looked up at her, concerned. "Luke…I…I feel like she may have run off with Palo's son…"

"Leia…come on, would Taryn do that? That's crazy, I mean force, I was thinking she just took her starfighter to fly around and cool off for a bit, I didn't think she ran away…" Luke looked at Leia, really not wanting to believe her. "That's so rash…it's not like her."  
"Luke, clearly none of us really knew what Taryn is like…what she really wanted. I feel awful, I think we have been putting way too much pressure and responsibility on her, it is true that the rest of us get away with murder compared to her. And now, she finds a little boyfriend and it is again the family's craziness that gets in the way…I mean Luke, she's sixteen, it sounds so rash but it's exactly the kind of thing she might do after how unfair we were to her… she needed an event like today's to set her off."

Luke eyed his sister analytically, realizing that Leia truly believed this.

"Well, let's tell dad and see what he thinks, we can all go fly around looking for her…" Luke said, still not sure Leia was right.

"No. Luke, do not involve dad. Or mom, even. Look, as a girl, I am telling you Taryn would just be more inspired to run off if dad went out looking for her. Look just come with me and help me look and if we find her… somehow, out in the universe, then _I_ will go talk to her, ok?" Leia asked intently, looking at her brother in a way that told him this was one of those times where he needed to just do this for his twin.

"All right. But I'll have you know that dad, Obi Wan and I were going to go have a drink and watch the pod races tonight, so I am giving that up for you." Luke pouted.

"Ok, a) when did you become a forty year old man and b) this is for Taryn, and I _think_ it's more important and c) I hope you were all going to invite Han…" Leia said scoldingly, as Luke rolled his eyes.

"All right, nerfherder, here's the other question, how do we create a story to tell mom and dad and everyone where we are going? On Coruscant, maybe this is normal, but here you know we are expected to stick around we can't just go flying off when we feel like it and if Taryn really is out there in some crazy plot trying to escape this may take a long time!" Luke protested, still wanting not to believe that his sister had run off and also just being a little bit Skywalker lazy as he was sure Taryn would come back.

"We just tell them we want to go flying for a bit to cool off after the day, I really don't think it will be that big of a deal…"

"Fine, then, but take your siblings with you," Padme conceded as her twins tried to casually convince her to let them leave the planet during a family trip. She knew them too well, however- they were going to some party or social event. Knowing them, they may even have flown all the way back to Coruscant for the night. To ensure that they truly were just going to fly around Naboo, she insisted that they take their little siblings- this would make them want to return sooner. Any time spent in close quarters with three little Skywalkers got annoying very fast.

"No, mom, come on," Leia protested, although her rational side told her Padme was not going to relent.

"And where is your father? And Obi Wan? And oh goodness…has no one found Taryn yet!?" Padme asked, suddenly realizing how all of this had come about.

Leia and Luke eyed each other nervously.

"Come on, I'm sure dad and Obi Wan tracked her down they are probably just letting her have some time away, to collect herself- from what I hear it sounds like she needed it," Luke said calmly, and Padme accepted this.

"Fine then, take the kids though," Padme said, gesturing at Zeke, Bail, and Elsé playing in the yard. "And aren't you going to bring Han?"

Leia felt a bit guilty as she realized she hadn't even seen Han in hours. There he was, sitting out on the patio somewhat awkwardly making small talk with Ryoo's husband and Jobal.

"Han, want to come fly around with all of us?" Leia asked, raising her eyebrows as she knew Han would jump at the opportunity.

"Yes, that sounds great!" Han said somewhat over-enthusiastically. He excused himself and got up from the table to join her.

"Where's Chewy?" Asked Bail, as everyone suddenly realized they had somehow not accounted for the giant seven foot tall wookie.

"Oh, he uh…" Han shifted awkwardly on the spot. "He took the falcon back to Kashyyyk for a while to see family." Han felt bad about this fact, because he didn't want the Naberries to think Chewy or he weren't having a nice time. But the truth was, Chewy was close to Kashyyyk and wanted to take this rare opportunity go see family, especially since Han had other things to do and clearly never wanted to see Kashyyyk again.

"Oh, how nice," Sola commented off-handedly as she played with her grand-daughter. Han breathed a sigh of relief to see no one was insulted by this.

"Well," Luke sighed, as he grabbed the hands of his two little brothers. "Let's go then."

"Yay! Flying!" Elsé squealed, as if this were some kind of novel experience that they did not do every single day as Anakin's children. With that, Leia, Luke, Bail, Zeke, Elsé, and Han boarded one of the Naberrie's larger ships, all the while fighting over who should drive, and soared off into space.

"We're not just orbiting the planet like you said we were going to," Han said like a small child nervous about breaking the rules.

Leia smiled at him fondly as she piloted the ship on a specific course. The kids were playing in the back with R2 and C-3PO (AN yes they are still around! I have hardly put them in this) and Luke, Leia, and Han sat at the front.

"Well…" Leia smiled at Han, endeared by his will to obey her family's wishes. "We are actually looking for Taryn… Luke and I both feel that she tried to run off…"  
"Really? Why? Because your dad got angry at her?" Han asked, saddened that Taryn felt the need to run away.

"I think she's a bit frustrated at all of us," Luke said as he moved things around for fun with the force. "I don't blame her, to be honest."

"But you don't seem like you're looking for someone, you set a course…" Han commented, still confused.

"Well, Luke and I were just discussing it and we both feel that she is most likely heading for her favorite place in the universe, the beaches of Elaria (AN Made up this planet). Especially if she's with her boy," Leia giggled, giddy at the idea of Taryn with a boyfriend despite the circumstances. "It's not too far, either."

"When were you discussing it? I didn't hear-Oh," Han said ashamedly, realizing the twins had been talking, once again, in their heads using the force. He was starting to wonder how often they did that- they could be talking about him all the time!

"Sorry, we just didn't think it was necessary to make it a public conversation," Luke said off-handedly.

"STOP!" Came a voice from outside the cockpit as Bail angrily stormed in and stared down his older brother. "That actually hurts, it's not even funny!"

"Bail, whatever's happening, there's no reason to blame Luke, he's been in here with us," Han said, trying to be nice to both Bail and Luke.

Bail just glared at Luke even harder as Luke laughed at him as any loyal, bullying, older brother would. Leia scowled at them despite an amused glance in her eye. She then looked sympathetically at Han.

"What now…" Han mumbled, starting to realize that he should probably just never speak around this family because anything he said made him look stupid.

"Luke's giving him Indian burns through the force, it's really mean," Leia said, hitting Luke on the head. "Luke seriously, leave him alone."

"You guys can bully each other through the force too? Sith," Han commented, shaking his head.

"It's so obnoxious, he's just a huge show-off," Bail pouted. "And he only does it because he knows I won't fight back."

"Why not?"  
"It's pointless. He always wins," Bail said morosely. "Leia's the only one he won't pick on." Han looked over at Leia, who was about half Bail's height, with a confused yet impressed look.

Leia gave a smug and somewhat seductive look back at Han. "Luke, you just wait five more years, Bail is going to kill you, he's already your height and way better in his powers than you were at twelve. It's really a dumb investment to pick on him now."  
"Yea, Luke, just wait," Bail challenged triumphantly, returning to play with his little siblings in the back.

"You guys are so weird," Han muttered, and Leia went over and sat on his lap.

"How weird are we?" She asked, giving him a mock-angry look.

"Not…not at all," Han muttered as he stared at her, and she kissed his cheek.

"_Please_," said Luke. "We're entering Eleria, thank goodness."

Luke took over the controls and expertly landed the ship on a beautiful beach, just at sunset.

"I don't think so, how dumb would that be!" He said suddenly much to the surprise of Han, but Leia seemed to know exactly what he meant and Han realized once again the twins had been speaking through the force. He was growing to hate that.

"Luke she's sixteen and with a boy, she's just trying to run off and probably has no idea we'd think to look here… I bet you anything she is in the cabin," Leia said, picking Elsé up and walking off the ship as the boys trailed along behind her.

"You guys have a cabin here?" Han asked.

"I mean it's just a little beach house. Taryn loves it, I swear she's here," Leia explained as Han rolled his eyes wondering how many more 'little' houses they had.

"Actually…you're right, there's her Force presence!" Luke said excitedly. "I dunno she seems pretty happy, maybe we should just let her run off."  
"Oh come on, Luke we are not just letting our sister run away," Leia muttered angrily. She suddenly got a weird look on her face, and then turned to Luke intently. "Look, stay here with everyone. _I_ will go get her."

Leia ran down the beach to their rather nice 'little cabin' on the beach, where she was a bit worried about what she would find. Taryn was definitely here, and so, she believed, was Cyan. Taryn did seem very happy, and Leia was a bit worried that the romantic atmosphere of the beach and the excitement of running off with this boy was going to lead Taryn to do something really stupid. And she certainly didn't want her brothers around when she went to talk to her. She approached the door of their cabin and sure enough the lights were on inside. She opened the door with the force and walked in. Sure enough, much to Leia's chagrin, it seemed that whoever was here was in the bedroom. She almost hated herself for this, but she ran in and opened the door. She found Taryn and Cyan sleeping peacefully next to each other (which she was thankful for that it wasn't a worse and more awkward scene), but it seemed pretty clear what had happened and she was angry that she hadn't been more open with her little sister about these matters before. Cyan was very cute, though, she thought to herself, somewhat proud of her little sister. Telling herself to stop thinking that and get her sister, she woke Taryn up using the force and tried very hard to keep Cyan asleep. Taryn looked up confusedly, not expecting anyone anywhere near here to be able to use the force as well as her family. When she saw Leia, she glared at her.

"Come on," Leia said forcefully through the force, clearly not pleased with her sister.

"No, I am staying here, I do not want to go home and I won't go with you," Taryn said stubbornly. "So leave me alone."  
"Taryn, I cannot believe you ran off like that," Leia said angrily. "Come and talk to me."  
"You heard me back on Naboo. I am sick of you all treating me like this, I am going to do what I want, all right?" Taryn shot back. All the while not a sound was actually uttered.

"Taryn, please," Leia changed tactics now, being sweet to her sister. "Just come talk to me."  
Taryn looked down at Cyan, back up at her sister (still quit angrily), sighed, and got carefully out of bed and walked into the living room with her sister.

"First of all," Leia said out loud. "Why would you run away? Taryn, I…I'm so sorry you feel that we expect too much of you, it's just because of how remarkable you are. You know mom and dad are so extraordinarily proud of you, and we all love you so much, I just can't imagine why-"

"Leia, you know that they're proud of me but _enamored_ of you and Luke," Taryn said honestly. "My whole life I've been in both of your shadow, working so hard just to be noticed, and you two are able to just get away with anything while I have to stay in line to be anything near what you are," Taryn said. "And yea, I'm sick of it, and of the fact that there are so many connotations to our family, mostly good, sure, but clearly, some bad as well…and I didn't want to be tied to that anymore, I just… I just want…"  
"Taryn," Leia said, pulling her sister to her in a hug that Taryn at first resisted but then allowed as she rested her head on her older sister's shoulder. "First of all, mom and dad love us all the same. Yes, Luke can get away with murder, don't you think that frustrates me as his twin? And I, well… maybe I can do more than you because I _am_ older, there's no getting around that. Twenty is a very different age than sixteen, ok? And since I'm not a Jedi anymore it's easier to bond with mom and just be dad's friend while not working with him… so it's a little different for me. But Taryn everyone has been so worried about you all day, it's not the same without you around and we need you, you are like the one who keeps us all balanced, I can't imagine not having you there…" Leia said sweetly to her sister.

"You say that, but Leia you're hardly even home and when you come back you hardly even spend time with me, and mom never bonds with me like she does with you because she just sees me as one of the boys, basically, since I'm always with them at the temple and Ellie's just the baby…She never cares about me that much, like with you, she doesn't talk to me about anything, I mean-"

"Taryn!" Leia cut her off. "How can you even say that! Mom was beside herself today, she couldn't even believe you felt that way. She loves you so much, and maybe she and I share more because I'm at an age where that is a little easier, you're at an age where every kid wants to just run away or do something crazy and not share it with their mom but…Taryn she would love you to go talk to her, and I wish I could express to you how worried she was thinking you had run off with Palo's son- _yes_ we figured it out." Leia said quickly at Taryn's look of shock and nervousness when she realized Leia knew who Cyan was.

"I still don't want to go back," Taryn said stubbornly. "I can never be with him at home."  
"Speaking of which," Leia said, eyeing her sister harshly. "Did you sleep with him?"

Taryn looked down obstinately, not answering, but she didn't have to- Leia knew.

"Taryn, that is so…why do you rush into these things," Leia sighed, hugging her sister to her. "I really wish you would have talked to me about something like this, at this age you think you're ready for these things but you don't even realize how young you are…"  
"Come on Leia, look at the example you and Luke set. And I am old enough, I know what I'm doing," Taryn challenged her sister.

"First of all, Luke is his own problem. Second of all, Taryn, I did _not_ do this when I was sixteen, ok? Maybe Luke makes you think that but he likes to make me sound a lot worse than I really am. And you think you know what you're doing, but sweetie I really think that five, ten, fifty years from now you will be a lot happier being an extraordinarily successful Jedi and a member of your admittedly odd but amazing family than running of with this kid…" Leia looked at her sister kindly, trying to help her realize this.

"I really like him Leia, and its just awful I can't be with him at all, just because of our families, he hates his family too and how they act…"  
"Taryn, I don't know what to tell you about him, I know sometimes you think you feel really strongly for someone because of how exciting it is, but no one is worth giving up your family. I know you're angry but think what an incredible family we have- the best one, really! There are times I wish I could just… run off into the sunset, _trust_ me, but at the end of the day I don't think anyone has more fun than we do. Please, Taryn, come back with us…"  
"Leia…I can't leave him." Taryn said stubbornly.

"I mean, we'll bring him back to Naboo, obviously…and maybe I can help you figure out a way to keep seeing him…" Leia smiled slyly, and Taryn looked up at her, amazed. "Hey, I am a fun older sister too, I'm not all lectures." Leia smiled, and Taryn smiled back.

"You really would do that?"  
"_But_, you have to promise to talk to me about this kind of stuff, ok? And also, be a Jedi. You're way to good not to be. Keep going on adventures, I think dad would get really bored without you and goodness knows Obi Wan might actually get to retire with Sabé and we don't want that now do we?"

Taryn giggled, and Leia knew she had convinced her.  
"Go wake him up and explain the situation," Leia said. "I'll wait here, and then we're going."  
"It's kind of embarrassing…" Taryn said, blushing. "This was all my idea, now I'm supposed to tell him to go home?"

"Babe, I think he'll be pretty content with how this night turned out no matter _what_ happens next," Leia said, raising an eyebrow at her little sister "Also, I think he'll probably be a bit relieved to be home when the excitement of your fleeing wears off…as I believe you will be too. Don't you guys have like a mission to complete sometime soon anyway?"  
"Yea…you know, there's that pledge I made to the Jedi order, but whatever," Taryn joked, as she grudgingly went in to wake up Cyan and head back to rejoin the Skywalker clan.


	21. Chapter 20

to accompany her off on what she had promised would be a crazy adventure, and now she had to tell him that they were just going to turn around and go right back home…and may not be able to see each other anymore (though she prayed that was not true)

to accompany her off on what she had promised would be a crazy adventure, and now she had to tell him that they were just going to turn around and go right back home…and may not be able to see each other anymore (though she prayed that was not true). She sighed, realizing that in sitting there staring at him the anticipation was only making it worse, and shook him awake.

Cyan looked up at her staring down at him, and immediately saw in her eyes that something was wrong. He gave her a concerned look and then smiled, sitting up and looking into her eyes.

"Hey," he said warmly, and she smiled giddily despite herself.

"Hi," she said, and then looked away sadly, a tear in her eye.

"What's wrong?" He asked, genuinely worried.

"Uh…" She stuttered, really unsure of how to say this. "Yea… I think we're going to have to go back." She said this quickly then got up and walked to the window, staring out of it so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"What?" He asked, unable to believe how quickly she had changed her mind- he had just given up his whole life because she asked him to, and now she wanted to leave again? Going back didn't just mean giving up this adventure, but it meant he'd be in big trouble with his family. Running off was not exactly looked fondly upon in a family as strict and focused as his. "Why?" He said a bit more coldly.

"It seems that um…well, my sister tracked me down," she informed him, knowing this was not exactly the best explanation for why she had given up her fiery passion of running away. "She's out there, she just made me realize that…well, I mean she made me remember that…"  
"So you're sister tells you how crazy this idea is and you just go running back, but when I told you you somehow managed to convince me to go with you? And now I've given up my life and I have to just turn around and go back? It's not that simple for me Taryn, your family will welcome you back happily but mine is going to be really angry at me for running off and I'll probably be kept watch over constantly now, they're going to punish me because they don't know who I could've-If they somehow find out I was with you…" He was sounding more and more panicky with every word. "My…my family's political agenda does not exactly look fondly on any kind of interruption of work, not to mention the possibility that I anyone about- I mean, I'm not allowed to leave the planet alone because they know I'm not completely invested, especially if I was with one of you, they're going to kill me, they're going to think I might have told you what we are-"

"Cyan," Taryn cut him off coldly, the Jedi in her having taken over minutes ago as she realized that he was suddenly babbling about something completely new and very, very suspicious. It was as if he had forgotten who he was talking to, but luckily, Taryn had been trained from birth never to do that very thing. "What is your family doing?"  
And Cyan realized this had gone from a conversation with his girlfriend to an interrogation by a Jedi, and he realized he had just been a complete idiot to say any of that. He just stared at her, and looked away.

She stood up, and he suddenly realized that despite the fact he was much bigger than her, she was kind of frightening. "Cyan, what is your family doing?"

"What? No, nothing… I'm sorry, I just, I'm just nervous about going back, that's all, they don't like me to run off," He was lying, and it was obvious, and he knew it.

"Look, I believe you that you don't like what they're doing, but you are part of it, and if this is something about my family, or any of the Jedi, or the chancellor, or whatever the hell your family wants because I know your dad used to work with my mom and I know she hates him for some reason, I deserve to know," She said, suddenly aware that he may have manipulated her this entire time. "Are you just trying to get me to turn against them to tell you something about my family? Were you just using me this whole time Cyan?"  
"No! No, Taryn, I swear to you, I meant every word I said, I hate them and I like you, that's _why_ I'm so nervous to go back, they'll be so angry…I…"

Taryn could tell he was being sincere, but at this point it was beyond their own relationship, because she could sense in him the utter fear that she should find out what he was talking about.

"Ok, fine. I believe that you truly are a good person. But I still need to know what you are talking about- you may hate them, you may like me, but I can tell you are reluctant to give up the information since it is your family and you were brought up there… and Cyan, the more you try not to tell me the more I realize I need to know. This involves my family. And that's not a question. I can sense that I'm right," She knew she was scaring him, and she felt bad, because she could tell he truly did care about her. But she had suddenly remembered who she was, and she wanted to protect her family.

"Taryn, I…I can't," he said, really sorry for all of this, truly wishing he wasn't a part of his family but also unable, because they were his family, and he did believe in some of what they were doing, to give it away. "I can't. I'm sorry."

"Leia!" Taryn said, not taking her eyes off of him.

"What? Don't…you don't need to bring a fully trained Jedi in here, Taryn, seriously, I mean what I said to you, I care about you, not them, I just…"  
"I know. That's why I'm doing this. To help you be freed of it," She said, though she was still a bit menacing. "And don't worry, Leia's not a Jedi anymore."  
"Yea right, she may be retired but I know what she's capable of," Cyan said. His family knew a lot about Jedi, especially this family.

"Well then this should be easy," Taryn said.

"What is it?" Leia said.

"Leia, how much do you know about his family?"

"Why?" Leia said, looking from Taryn to Cyan in confusion.

"I think they are planning something," Taryn said, and Leia didn't understand what had just happeend. A moment ago Taryn had seemed to truly care about this boy, and suddenly she was staring at him with a very cold and angry look. And he, well, he just looked like a scared kid.

"What makes you think that?" Leia asked, and Taryn told her exactly what Cyan had said.

"So your father meant what he said today then?" Leia asked, suddenly very concerned.

"What… what did he say?" Cyan asked, wishing he hadn't.

"He said that history would repeat itself. My mother said he was just giving empty threats, but maybe this time he's got something to back it up… so what's going on Cyan?" Leia asked, and Cyan looked petrified. Suddenly, however, he looked from Leia to Taryn, then down at the ground, and back up at Taryn again. And his entire demeanor calemd down.

"Look, I truly do not believe in what my family is doing. I told Taryn I hated them, and I… I hate what they are doing, I hate how I am afraid to be around them because I get in trouble for everything I do, I hate to be enemies of so many people, I hate how radical everything they think is… but they are my family. I do love them, they raised me. I hate them, but I love them. I know it sounds crazy, but I cannot just tell you everything my family has worked on. I can tell you it is a political agenda, however, so you can stop worrying that we are insane murderers or something because we are not going to hurt anybody. And I don't even want to go back to them, I just don't want to betray the only family I have, ok?" He looked pleadingly at Taryn, who looked at him sadly, then back to the ground.

"Look," Leia said angrily, and despite Taryn putting a hand on her sister's arm to try to calm her, Leia knew this entire thing was beyond the comprehension of these two teenagers who were completely uninformed of the situation. Considering what her mother had just told her today, she knew that if Palo was up to something, people were going to get hurt despite what his son might think. "I just called my brother through the force about a minute ago, he should be here soon. They are all waiting by the ship to bring Taryn back, but before we go we will find out what you are planning because I swear to you, if anyone in my family gets hurt by anyone in your family again, the rest of my family may be sworn Jedi incapable of revenge, but I left the order, and I will get it."

The look of terror on Taryn's face at the moment that Leia mentioned her brother told Cyan to be very afraid. He knew he was in way over his head here, and he had no idea what to do.

"Leia, no," Taryn begged, not wanting Luke to be anywhere near Cyan. "Luke does not need to be here, please, this is crazy, he's telling the truth, he's on our side…"  
"I know," Leia said. "But he still needs to tell us what's going on. Then, maybe we can trust him. Look Taryn, you have no idea what mom told me today, but if I just give you the icing on the cake it will be enough to make you realize this has to be done- these people are Sith supporters, Taryn. Yea, that's right," she said, as the look of shock on Taryn's face told Leia that her sister had not been expecting that. "So when Palo said history would repeat itself, dad flipped out because he was worried they were bringing another Sith to power. And if that is their political agenda here, then Taryn, people are going to get hurt, and your father, who has already nearly died about a hundred times defeating the Sith, is going to be one of them. So yes, we need Luke."

"Is that true?" Taryn asked coldly, staring at Cyan.

Cyan knew that the one thing that could make him completely lose the trust of any Skywalker, even one who was fed up with her family and who cared about him, who wanted to be with him, was to have anything to do with Sith. The only thing in the universe that that family could not reason about, could not see both sides of, could not negotiate about, were the Sith. They were the enemy, and he knew it was bad to be associated with them among this crowd.

"I…it's… it's true that in the past, my father um… was a supporter of Palpatine," he admitted, looking down shamefully. "But I don't believe in that Taryn! I hate the Sith just as much as you do!"  
"_No one_," yelled Luke, who had just entered the room in a terrifying manner, "hates the Sith as much as we do."

Cyan's face went white, and Taryn looked around worriedly wondering how in the world she had gotten him into this mess, suddenly feeling bad for calling Leia in there at all.

"Luke, please, he isn't really one of them, he means well, I-" She tried to reason with her brother, but he was at that point where a male Skywalker was beyond reason.

"That may be the case, but it does not take away from the fact that I need to know exactly what his family is up to," Luke said, calming a bit from his intentionally frightening entrance but still all business. "Taryn, this is beyond personal relationships. This is a political matter, a Jedi matter. This is work, and I will treat it as such."  
"He's sixteen Luke!" Taryn yelled, as Leia just looked around nervously. "Stop it! He doesn't know anything! He wants to stay away from his family!"  
"Fine, he can, after he tells us what's going on," Luke said, never steering his gaze away from the look he was giving Cyan. "Cyan Eccetaria, you will tell me what your family is up to. It doesn't have to be difficult, if you just tell me now then we can forget all of this and you can come back with us, you never have to see them again."  
"But, they are my… my family….I just can't," Cyan said, despite the hatred, despite the lies he had been brought up with, unable to betray the only family he'd ever known.

Luke suddenly drew his lightsaber and pointed it straight at Cyan's face. "How about now?" He asked menacingly.

"Luke, _Stop_!" Taryn yelled, suddenly jumping at her brother with her own lightsaber. However, Luke was not playing around, and Taryn, who could often take him in a spar, suddenly realized he had just been messing with her for all that time as he managed to push her completely across the room with such force that she knocked books of the bookshelf she ran into without even moving his lightsaber from Cyan.

"I'm sorry Taryn," he said to her honestly, without turning his gaze from Cyan. "I can't let you interfere. As I said, this is a mission now."

Taryn just stared at him, realizing Luke knew a lot more about the force than she realized. Leia just rushed over to her trying to help her up, but Taryn glared at her and Leia knew it was because she had asked Luke to come in there.

"Leave," Luke ordered them, but Taryn refused and stood etched to the spot. Luke finally turned and glared at her, but she glared right back. Suddenly, she rushed to Cyan's side.

"Cyan, I'm so sorry," she said remorsefully. "I'm so sorry, just… if you just tell us, it doesn't have to be this way. If you truly don't believe in what they are doing, if you think we are right, if you think my mother was a better Chancellor than Palpatine could ever have been, if you believe in liberty, then please, tell us what your family is planning so we can stop it early and no one needs to get hurt. Please," She begged, now kneeling next to where he sat on the bed and staring into his eyes. "I didn't mean for Luke to get involved, I didn't even know he was here…please."

Cyan stared at her, and realized he already cared more about this girl than about any family member he had, as she had shown more caring in that moment than even his mother ever had to him in his life. She kissed him, and Luke protested out loud but when she got up and stood back, Cyan looked up at him and Luke realized that what Taryn had just done was more successful than any Jedi interrogation he could have performed, and he realized that there were some things that were more powerful even than the Force.

"And that's why you haven't ever been able to keep a girlfriend for more than an hour," Leia said to him as she knew, as always, exactly what he was thinking.

Luke looked at her, unamused, and physically pushed her over.

"Well you're on the right track, not using the Force there," she muttered looking at him angrily.

"So you'll tell us then?" Luke asked, now sitting on the bed and looking more kindly at Cyan.

"Yes," Cyan conceded, looking out the window for a moment before turning to them, getting ready to betray his family but fight for the right side for the first time in his life. "You're right. You're right Leia, they are trying to bring a Sith to power, just like they did before I was born, when your father defeated Palpatine…they had been trying to get Palpatine to become Chancellor, as you know, and they are trying the same plan again…"  
"But… but how, the Sith are dead, my father killed them…" Luke said, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"No, he killed the two current Sith, which you thought guaranteed that no more could be trained… but just because there is no living Sith to train one, does not mean one cannot be trained…"  
"What are you talking about," Luke asked, unable to believe that something like this could have gone completely unnoticed by the Jedi.

"Well it happened once before didn't it? There were no Sith for 1000 years before Palpatine, I mean where did he come from?" Leia asked, wondering why she had never thought about this before.

"Exactley," said Cyan. "Palpatine was trained by a man who has no Force powers of his own, but who believes in the Sith, and who studied them for centuries before stealing a baby from the steps of the Jedi temple and training him in the Sith arts. He did it five times before it worked correctly, as he had to get a feel for how they could use the Force before he knew exactly what to teach them. And that fifth baby was Palpatine. That man is dead, and it is not important who he was. The only point to that story is, you can be trained as a Sith, or a Jedi for that matter, even if your teacher doesn't have Force powers of his own. As long as one understands the nature of the Force, one can explain to a child with powers how to harness them. And that… is what my father did with my half-sister…the child my mother had with Palpatine just before he died."

Leia, Luke, and Taryn stared at him in shock.

"And that's why I was so hesitant to tell you," He said sadly. "Not because I wanted to protect my parents or the rest of my family, because they are horrible and want all of the Jedi and good people of the universe dead or serving them. But because I knew if I told you, you would have to kill the one person in my family who I truly care about, who is an innocent victim of all of this just like any of the rest of us, who is a child brought up to believe things she cannot escape, to be a slave to the powers my father forces her to use, powers that tell her she is doing right because it feels easy, because she has been brought up to see Palpatine as good and the Jedi as evil…" He looked up at them, tears in his eyes. "Is it possible to turn a Sith into a good Jedi…is it… is it possible not to have to kill her?"  
Luke and Leia looked at each other skeptically… a Sith was unlikely to change in her ways….unless…

"How old is she?" Luke asked, suddenly realizing that Cyan had called her a child.

"Well, Palpatine realized he needed an heir as soon as your father discovered his camps when you two were four. So Staciana was born about a year after that. She's a year younger than I am. She's fifteen."  
Leia and Luke looked at each other, unable to process this information… they either had to kill a fifteen year old girl, or somehow find her, convince their father not to hurt her, and try to turn her from a Sith into a Jedi, something that had never even been tried before.

"Well," Luke said, looking around him in disbelief. "Can you get her to leave them?"

"I can certainly try."


End file.
